


Gravity of You

by mademoisellebianx



Series: The Endless Skies of Your Starlight [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Visions, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Mutiny, One-Sided Attraction, Post-Canon, Post-TLJ, Power Imbalance, Scheming, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-03-27 20:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13888587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mademoisellebianx/pseuds/mademoisellebianx
Summary: Supreme Leader Snoke had always felt some sort of twisted pleasure whenever his protegees fight for his favor but besides the bizarre gratification he gets from watching the petty rivalry he orchestrated between General Hux and Kylo Ren grow, there is a deeper, greater reason why he kept them at odds against each other.





	1. The Hollow Plain the Devil Dances On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren face the consequences of their failure at Starkiller Base. With their usefulness wearing thin in the eyes of the Supreme Leader, they try to redeem themselves. Hux acts. Kylo ponders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I've been dying to write this fanfic ever since TLJ came out but it took a while for me to organize the plot and everything but I am happy to say that I've had it all figured out and the events that would come or whatnot listed, along with the companion fic/sequel. Forgive my grammatical errors, English is not my first language although I also suck at speaking/writing with my first language so............................

 

> _There's a silencing_  
>  _As the machine arrives here_  
>  _I feel it pulling me_  
>  _I feel the past that's died there_  
>  _I hear it calling me_  
>  _"You can come alive here."_  
>  _I hear it beckoning_  
>  _Until I am inside_  
>  -The Gravity of You by Starset

 

There had been multiple occasions when General Armitage Hux dreamt that he was completely submerged in a dark, fathomless body of water. The first time he dreamt it was when he was a young, waifish boy in Arkanis – he was terrified, naturally, and he woke up gasping for breath and weeping as if he was mourning for a life he did not lose; entirely convinced that he almost drowned while he was sleeping. Then it happened again and again until it became such a common occurrence, he became used to it. They don’t scare him as it did the first time and even while he was still completely asleep, he recognizes immediately that, wherever he is and whatever abyss he was submerged in, it was only a dream. Dreams cannot hurt him, no, there are other things – physical, tangible and real horrors – that frightened him growing up (some of these still do even to this day). Dreams are usually just how his subconscious reminds him about things he refuses to recognize and acknowledge in his life or the things he tries to hide while he is awake – like whenever Hux dreams of falling endlessly almost every night when he was still in the Academy, his kriffing subconscious was reminding him that he was terrified of failing – and drowning in his dream only signifies that he is under a lot of stress. This is true. Hux had been under so much stress…the past cycles had not been favorable to him.

He is asleep, dreaming; drifting in this familiar weightless half-consciousness, half-unconsciousness he barely has the pleasure of experiencing anymore ever since he was promoted to general.

Strange though…this, however, doesn’t feel like _his_ dream. It even doesn’t feel like a dream itself.

The difference of this dream from the previous ones he had is that this one feels so real but wherever he is in this awful dream, he isn’t Armitage Hux. In this dream, he was confined in some sort of cylindrical transparisteel case filled with water…or what seems to be water. He was trapped; unable to move at the limited space given to him, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see and his chest felt like it was about to burst open with every increase in speed of his heartbeat. He couldn’t see anything but the color blue but he _could_ hear what seems to be the beeping of droids, the distant voices of people.

Where…is he?

 _‘Let me out!’_ Hux – no, whoever the fuck he is in this dream – is screaming, and yet Hux could feel that his mouth isn’t moving, no, he is screaming only inside his head. Panic rises from his body – it wasn’t his and yet he feels it as intensely as if it were his own. The voice was…familiar. He’s heard it before. But he isn’t certain if it was only in his dreams or –

‘ _Get me the kark outta here right now!’_

The voice in his head was screeching now – savage and hateful and demanding like a wild animal that had its foot snapped in a trap – and Hux watches as muscular arms shot up in his view, pounding at the glass cylinder; bubbles emanating around from the struggle. All of a sudden, he couldn’t hear anything but the pounding of whoever’s heart against his ears while he was overwhelmed by the feeling of intense breathlessness, tachycardia and anxiety.

 _‘GET. ME. OUT!’_ The cylindrical case shattered as soon as the last word was screamed and as the violent gush of liquid splattered and the shards fell to the floor, Hux was yanked forcefully out of the dream, as though several pairs of cold arms grabbed at his lithe body and without finesse or care, pulled him out of it. These arms…it felt like they were saving him from drowning, but keeping him away from something instead.

General Hux scrambled out of his bed in a panic, kicking his feet and stumbling out pathetically on the cool durasteel floor; gasping and sputtering like a fish out of water. Pain from his back hitting the floor reminded him that this was no longer a dream and was back in the Supremacy, inside his quarters in his sleeping clothing. It was over and yet, he _still_ could hardly breathe and every breath he barely sucked in only rattled his burning lungs. He could already feel bile rising from his esophagus, making him feel like he needed to rush to the refresher because he is about to throw up. He feels sick but however, he feels more pissed off than he is sick with the unsettling anxiety and the primal fear he felt the first time he dreamt that he was drowning. It irritates him that he was _violently_ tugged from the only non-stimulated sleep he got in days since the destruction of his magnum opus, the Starkiller, by a bloody dream. With wobbly legs, the general pushes himself up on his feet, immediately feeling a bit faint when blood rushed to his head at the sudden movement, encouraging him all the more to throw up…but before he can, he noticed that the datapad on his desk was blinking persistently, alerting him that he had received a message – a message from the doctor that only worsened his irritation. He swallowed down the bile already threatening to choke him and began dressing himself in his uniform, his second skin; complete with his greatcoat.

Kylo Ren has finally awoken in the bacta tank where they dumped him after his humiliating defeat in the hands of an untrained scavenger girl.

 

* * *

 

 

Despite his disorientation, Kylo was still able to catch himself on his hands and knees before he could stumble like a complete fool on the floor of…wherever the fuck he is. He was drenched; trembling and stripped from head to toe and only in his underwear. Vision clouded, only able to see ghastly blurred silhouette of what seems to be human and he could barely hear anything; just muffled noises. Something was moving towards him.

_Strike before he strikes you._

Overcome with the primal survival instinct he knew too well, Kylo stands on his feet, extending his arm towards the direction where he felt the movement and using the Force, he grabbed at the creature – it’s a _girl_ , is it the scavenger girl? Where the hell is he? – and pulled her towards him (which was as simple as tugging a rope at his direction) until he had her throat around his hand. Without his gloves on, he could feel the girl’s pulse; quickening with every second. The air around them seem to thicken with the girl – no, this was woman – the woman’s fear and Kylo delightfully basks in this.

“Where – !?” Kylo’s voice cracks; his throat dry and voice hoarse because of not speaking for…Force knows how long.

“C -Com – !”

“Do not interrupt me!” His eyes had finally began to adjust with the room’s brightness and he could now see the woman’s countenance before him. No, she isn’t the scavenger girl. Staring back at him was a middle-aged woman, eyes wide with sheer terror.

“Ren!”

The corner of Kylo’s lips twitched at recognizing that _obnoxious_ , _grating_ voice. It was as sharp and as insolent as he last heard it on Starkiller Base. He turns towards the direction where the voice originated. It’s Hux, who was sticking out like a sore thumb with his red hair and black uniform and greatcoat among all the white in the room. He looks as smug as ever, but more tired than usual.

“Ren, let go of Doctor Katkene at once. We’re on the Finalizer. You had been in the medbay, inside a bacta tank, under her watch for seven days now and I believe she deserves a little bit of gratitude.” The general said.

Kylo snorts, letting go of the trembling wreck he just had by the throat; not because Hux said so but because he grew tired of the pathetic creature. It’s her job to keep watch of him, he doesn’t need to give him her gratitude. Not letting his eyes off of Hux, who did not as much as flinch as he glared at him while he himself returned his gaze. Kylo always found it irritating that a common man like Hux doesn’t fear him the way Kylo wants him to, this isn’t admirable since it wasn’t bravery but arrogance. Supreme Leader Snoke holds Kylo on a leash, stopping him from harming the irrelevant sycophant and Hux knows this, thus, his despicable confidence. But Kylo knows that he is unnerved by the Force. Hux has the slightest knowledge of the Force and lowly people like him fears things they cannot understand.

“General Hux.” Kylo says, greeting him; making sure to sound as insulting as possible when he pronounced his title, “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon. We’re back to our ship, you said?” Hux nodded his head, sharply, looking as though he wanted to give a sarcastic retort but didn’t. “Have the Supreme Leader summoned for me?”

“No.”

“Have you spoken to the Supreme Leader?” Kylo asks. He had always hated it when Snoke summons for Hux and only Hux. He feels like the rat-faced sycophant uses those moments to make him look bad in the eyes of his Master, backstabbing him and putting all the blame in him whenever they fail. Reaching out an invisible hand towards Hux, he uses the Force to lightly scan his thoughts; wanting to know if the fool would lie to him. Hux’s shoulders jerked at the feeling; glaring at Kylo as though he knows what he was doing. Strange, Hux was never that conscious of the feeling of the Force being used on him before.

“Yes, I’ve spoken to Supreme Leader Snoke. I had to explain what happened to Starkiller and to report the success of extracting you before the planet collapsed. He also gave me his orders regarding the Resistance.”  He was indeed speaking the truth, Kylo could feel it but there is something else – something about _him_ and Snoke and a deep feeling of animosity, fear, bitterness and humiliation. Grazing into the surface of Hux’s mind, he… _Your thoughts are treasonous, General. Not only the thoughts you had on Starkiller but the actions you did when you had those thoughts._

_Supreme Leader, I…_

_You took hold of your blaster once you reached my apprentice. You saw the scavenger and the defected Stormtrooper on the other side. The blaster…what did you want to do with it? Shoot the girl and the traitor? What thought first came into your head then, I wonder?_

Kylo’s eye twitched; he hears a scream. It was a horrible scream – it sounds as though it were not from a man’s but…it was almost more like a loud yelp of a dog whipped harshly. It’s Hux!

_Ah, you thought of shooting my apprentice._

_Supreme Leader, please –_

_Silence! Learn your place, Armitage._

“Ren –” Hux snaps Kylo out of his thoughts. Blinking, Kylo withdraws the Force from Hux’s thoughts. Hux stared at him accusingly as though knowing that Kylo took a peek in his mind. From what Kylo had learned from what he saw in the redhead’s mind, Snoke berated him for almost shooting him while he was unconscious. He should be angry for what Hux planned to do to him then but…Snoke already punished him for it and he is certain the bastard learned something in that encounter. The accusing glare Hux gave him changes when he sees Kylo looking at him impassively as though he had not been the one using the Force on him and Hux dismissed it as something of the imagination of his exhausted brain, his paranoia of Snoke lurking around in his head after that incidence.

“General Hux…I wasn’t able to speak my condolences to you. It’s a pity what happened to Starkiller.” He smirked when he got the reaction he wanted at the mere mention of Hux’s precious weapon – that tight scowl, that scrunched forehead and that tiny twitch of his nose. Starkiller meant so much to the poor fool; for him, it wasn’t just a superweapon he spent countless of sleepless nights to design and engineer, no, but it was also a symbol – a symbol of _his_ power and now it’s all gone. Kylo would have loved to see how pompous General Hux looked as the symbol of his power against the Resistance crumbled beneath him. But, of course, it had to be the other way around and Hux saw him in the aftermath of his battle with the blasted bitch who was stronger in the Force than he originally thought. Hux was ordered by Snoke to retrieve him. To have Hux and a set of his disposable Stormtroopers save him was humiliating.

“Indeed.” Hux forces that single word out of his mouth through gritted teeth. He is shaking, his gloved hands tightening into fists. He is still hurting from his failure…as much as Ren is. Perhaps, both of them are licking their wounds since their defeat in the hands of the Resistance. _Strike before he strikes you._ He knows Hux would gloat at him and he had to do it before he can; wound him enough to shut him up. Despite Hux’s practiced cold exterior, he isn’t at all invulnerable – in fact, he is rather fragile and easy to crack due to his many insecurities and self-consciousness, which Kylo grew to learn about while working with him for five miserable and unbearable years. “It wouldn’t have happened if I was informed that Resistance scum had infiltrated our base and that the girl you held as your prisoner was able to escape.”

“What difference would it have made if you would have known, General?” Kylo scoffed, walking now towards Hux; decreasing the distance between them.

“The difference, surely – ” Hux cuts himself short before taking a deep breath; his face turning red immediately as irritation begins to get the best of him. As Kylo grew closer to him, he could see that Hux hasn’t been getting enough sleep lately. His eyes were bloodshot, the skin around them pink and the dark bags underneath were more apparent than usual. With the destruction of Starkiller Base, of course, the General is busy trying to salvage his pride and isn’t getting enough sleep – if not any. Surely, he hasn’t slept since. Hux’s nostrils flared when he notices Kylo’s eyes lingering at that part of his face in particular – apparently ashamed that his weakness was completely exposed to his rival, and this made Kylo smirk; further increasing the redhead’s frustration.

“There wouldn’t be any difference if you were informed or not, General, and you know it.” Kylo said. “I acted on my own as fast as I can possible. I underestimated the girl and the traitor. Back then, I made a few mistakes – as did you – and it won’t happen again.” Kylo was about to walk past Hux and leave him until this – as every single encounter the two of them shared – turns ugly. He wasted enough of his precious time already, speaking to this worthless mongrel of a man and he has no more intentions of wasting more. But then again, it is utterly delicious and worth his time seeing how easily his words affect Armitage Hux.

“But one must wonder, Lord Ren…” Kylo stops dead on his track, hating the venom and insolence in Hux’s tone of voice as he spoke. How dare he speak to him that way? “I was informed that besides the traitor, the girl and a wookie, Han Solo was spotted before the oscillators exploded. One must wonder if a certain someone had allowed their attachments get the best of them. How treasonous. Ah, how would Supreme Leader Snoke react to such display of utter _weakness_?”

 _Whose side are you really on, Ren?_ Hux didn’t have to speak these words out loud, Kylo heard it nonetheless. If it were intentional or not, Kylo doesn’t care.

Before Kylo could think twice or remind himself that Hux is not worth any more of his attention, his body, as though having a mind of his own, advances towards the General; crowding Hux once more as he corners him against the nearest wall. He did not as much touch him but kept his eyes pinned on him; glaring daggers and murder at him. “Don’t talk to me about _weakness_ , General Hux…” Kylo said, spitting these words in a clear display of anger and hatred. The fool sneered; unaffected and unimpressed with this display. It makes Kylo despise him more. He can snap this man’s neck in a second, way too easily. “…and you need not worry about me and my _attachments,_ I cut them all off on that day. I am not the one who entertains treasonous thoughts against the Order but I may know who does.” As he was speaking, he notices the smallest twitch of Hux’s eyebrows; almost furrowing in a full scowl when Kylo mentioned ‘treasonous thoughts’ and using that reaction from him, Kylo added, speaking in a mocking and pompous tone, “Careful, General Hux, you have no idea how close this man is to you.”

‘Careful, Ren.’ That’s what Hux said to him when on the Finalizer’s bridge after Kylo mocked his incompetent army for being unable to retrieve the droid in Jakku. The nerve.

Hux audibly swallowed; averting his eyes ever so slightly at Kylo’s words. The flustered reaction the Force user got from him reminded Kylo of the first time Kylo read his mind five years ago when he scoffed something about the Force in his head, thinking that Kylo wouldn’t hear him then. Of course, Kylo did not hesitate to snap at him. The way his already pale face blanched then made Kylo smirk – his embarrassment was delicious.

With the five years of knowing him, Hux was able to learn how to keep his thoughts to himself which was surprising for a non-Force user but not impressive. Hux isn’t a weak-minded fool, Kylo could give him that, and so when he was able to build a barrier around his mind to keep Kylo from easily snooping around his thoughts the same way he did the first time they met, Kylo wasn’t at all enthralled by that. The reason why he did it is a complete mystery, Kylo could find out what it was but he simply doesn’t want to give too much attention to Hux because Hux basks with pleasure if people give him attention (his feedback whenever Snoke praises him gets distractingly bright, it’s shameful how he is in constant need of validation) – especially when he wanted that person’s attention on him. Kylo is one of these people whose attention the General wanted and so, Kylo would never give it to him.

 

* * *

 

 

Hux hates him, that petulant man-child of a Force user. _I should have killed him when I had the chance but_ Snoke would have his head – he almost did. The walk from his quarters to the medbay had been unbearable since he had to go and check his ever-so-pleasant co-commander, Kylo fucking Ren. What was more painful was finally seeing the Force user…in only his underwear, dripping wet with bacta. As much as Hux hated to admit it, Kylo Ren is…well, he was nice to look at. He’s _handsome_ – his strangely angular face appealing despite how his facial features being rather unproportional with those soft emotive brown eyes, thick and plush lips… _fuck, I hate him so much_.  Hux had always hated how Kylo’s bare face had such a strange effect on him that does nothing but remind him of his own _perverted, obscene weakness_ and seeing Kylo as exposed as he was in the medbay only reminded him of his own weakness. It was difficult to keep his eyes off of that…strong chest, well-muscled arms that apparently resulted from such rigorous physical training and – _absolutely hideous_ body. Hux was relieved to find there was a set of clothes for the big oaf to cover himself up in the medbay. The way Kylo bowed his head, letting strands of his greasy hair cover his face – cover the mark of his failure, that ghastly scar the scavenger girl branded on him – as he leaves the medbay at least gave Hux a selfish sense of triumph.

Hux was notified that they had finally reached the rebel base, D’qar, and Hux went straight to the bridge to oversee their assault. His whole body trembled with excitement as he made his way to the bridge – it was also begging for another few minutes of rest. He worked tirelessly since Starkiller base was destroyed, doing every single thing to make up for the humiliating loss the First Order experienced. The whispers of those who had doubted him since he was appointed General intensified. ‘Hux scurried out of the bridge and ran to Supreme Leader Snoke with his tail between his legs as the base imploded. What a complete coward. He should have let himself go down along with the base. His father was right about him. Useless, absolutely useless and weak.’ He never missed these whispers and they only fueled his desire to prove himself that he is, in fact, worthy of being General despite his young age, his _inexperience_.

Keeping his strides seemingly confident becomes more and more difficult as he ponders on the past mostly-sleepless seven days. It was torturous; having to keep his head quiet of his own thoughts as his personal demons spat at him as his father would if he were still alive.

_Learn your place, Armitage. It is for the good of the Order for Kylo Ren to live. Do you plan on sabotage the Order?_

_You will be kept alive because, despite your insolence, you have your usefulness but if you act out on that treasonous impulses once again, I won’t hesitate to eliminate you._

_I am not the one who entertains treasonous thoughts against the Order but I may know who does. You have no idea how close this man is._

Hux could not help but wonder if Kylo Ren knows…about his own ambitions, his desires. But if he did, then why hasn’t he struck him down on the spot? Surely, Kylo would do anything – as he would – to make up for his failure to defeat the untrained girl on Starkiller. Perhaps, Kylo was bluffing…or perhaps, he is waiting for the perfect time to expose him for keeping such treasonous thoughts against Supreme Leader Snoke. Hux made sure and tried so hard to keep his thoughts down while Snoke and Kylo were present but there is no telling what these Force users can and cannot do. Try as he might, Hux could never understand the ways of the Force. There isn’t time for that…especially now that he has the Resistance to destroy.

Captain Edrison Peavey stayed on the bridge while he was away, supposedly taking an hour of rest but only getting a few minutes of it, and Hux did not miss how the older man’s expression darkened when he arrived but he was smart enough to quickly dissipate that horrible bitter expression from his hideous face. Peavey personally knew his father, must know every single insult Brendol threw at him and Hux is certain that Peavey must think of him the way his father once spoke of him. What he thinks of him shouldn’t matter – no, it doesn’t matter at all. Hux is the general, he is this insolent fool’s commanding officer and he better keep that in mind.

“We've caught them in the middle of their evacuation.” Peavey said, turning to look at Hux; his expression free from any disrespect.

“I have my orders from Supreme Leader Snoke himself. This is where we snuff out the Resistance once and for all.” Hux replied, his lips pulling in a smug tight smirk. He is unable to stop himself; feeling confident, his anxiety dissolving into sheer excitement. Beneath them – always, always beneath them – is the Resistance base; begging to be destroyed and destroy the First Order shall. He, Armitage Hux, the engineer of Starkiller, the man who ordered the deaths and extinction of billions, shall have them all snuffed into oblivion. They will pay for what they did to their Starkiller – he still grieves for it; Starkiller was like his child. “Tell Captain Canady to prime his dreadnought. Incinerate their base, destroy their transports and obliterate their fleet.”

 

* * *

 

 

The dreams he had while he was drifting about in the bacta tank were filled with memories – memories that are certainly not his. It’s a rather ugly and boring dream, just filled with dunes of sand. Jakku, perhaps? Why the hell did he dream of that dreadful place? And in that dream, he was filled with extreme loneliness…for some unknown reason. Could it be possible that it wasn’t a dream but a vision that the Force was showing him? What could it mean? The Force must be pointing him towards someone, someone who owns those memories, someone who he heard weeping in that dream…that vision.

It is the same now. As he sat on his bed, legs folded and eyes closed, he could feel the emotions of a _stranger_. His eardrums are ringing with how loud his heart is beating long with the same rhythm of whoever. Whatever it is that is causing this tachycardia in him, be it anxiety, excitement or both…Kylo needs it to stop because it is disrupting his concentration from meditating. He had been trying to do so for hours now and he could not do so because of the damned distractions plaguing him. He wanted to know why, instead of being embraced fully by the Dark Side, he was weakened when he plunged the blade of his lightsaber through Han Solo’s chest but how can he when all he could think about is –

Excitement – they are so close to reaching their destination, finding who or what it was they had been looking for.

Fear – of the unknown, of the inevitable.

Anxiety – their stomach spasms; bile rising at the back of their throats. What happens if this does not happen the way they think it would?

Why is he feeling these emotions?

Kylo winced at the sudden sharp pain on his temples; pulling him out of his trail of thoughts, pulling him before he could start pondering and grasping for answers to these questions. His eyes snapped open, hearing, ‘ _Kylo Ren._ ’

He knew that voice anywhere; having heard it speaking to him inside his head for so many years, he wasn’t startled, wasn’t unnerved whenever the voice returns without warning. It’s Supreme Leader Snoke. Kylo licked his lips, his mouth growing dry all of a sudden. He was thankful that he doesn’t have to speak to his Master because he knows his voice would most probably crack because every single emotions he is currently feeling – hatred, bitterness, disappointment, shame – enveloping him in a thick whirlwind of darkness spinning and spinning around him, suffocating him and paralyzing him.

‘ _Master…_ ’

‘ _I had been thinking about finishing your training.’_

Yes! It’s about time.

_‘Yes, Master. I promise once I finish my training under your guidance, I would make the scavenger, the traitor and all of the Resistance pay. They will –”_

_‘I believe you are not ready yet, Kylo.’_

Snoke’s words in his head shut him up. His jaw tightened as though he was not just mentally trying to silent his thoughts but also physically stopping himself from speaking. Fortunately, his thought fizzled into nothing and all that was left inside his mind was white noise.

_‘I have yet to decide what I am to do with you.’_

Supreme Leader Snoke, his Master, is going to throw him away. Just like what Han Solo and Leia Organa did with Ben Solo – throwing him away to his uncle, Luke Skywalker…and that did not end well, did it?

Kylo swallowed the hard lump forming in his throat. He wanted to believe that his Master is wise, that his Master knows what was best for him but Snoke was also the one who told him to destroy Han Solo, Ben Solo’s father and one of the last strings that is anchoring Kylo Ren with the dead padawan, and despite the fact that Snoke promised that doing so will strengthen him but he had been wrong.

Begrudgingly, Kylo answers Snoke, _‘Yes, Master.’_

He could feel that Snoke wanted to say more but all Kylo heard was a disgusted snarl – the very sound he always hears from Snoke whenever he is disappointed and frustrated at Kylo before he delivers the suitable punishment using the Force for whatever failure Kylo did. Kylo felt himself tense at the sound, not knowing what he did that could have caused Snoke to reacting that way. Had he sensed his doubts, his conflict? Then within just seconds, Snoke’s voice as well as his menacing presence is gone and a sigh of relief escaped him before he could stop himself.

The silence of the room, as well as the absence of his Master should calm him down but they don’t – what they did though was increase his frustration and unease. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he takes a deep breath, feeling the cold air fill his lungs as though doing so could somehow appease the burning fire of the fury growing inside him. He turned about, glancing here and there in a frenzy as he looked for his lightsaber. The last time he had it within his grasp was in Starkiller and his numb fingers had lost its grasp on it as he laid on the snow, losing consciousness from the blood loss and the searing pain. Kylo’s heart skipped a beat when he spots it and immediately being greeted by Darth Vader’s grotesquely burnt helmet staring at him as though it was giving him harsh judgment for letting himself be beaten by some untrained, filthy scavenger. Someone has placed his lightsaber near his grandfather’s mask. Kylo stretches his arm towards it; wanting to summon the lightsaber in his hand with the Force to ignite it and destroy something, anything so as to quench that anger in him that threatens to consume him whole. But he could feel Vader’s helmet _looking_ at him as though that _thing_ has a pair of amber-colored eyes; as though his grandfather himself is looking at him, hating him for…

Kylo snarled. Looking at his grandfather’s helmet only reminded him of what happened between him, the scavenger and Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. He, the heir to Darth Vader, bested by some _nobody_ – a fucking nobody who was able to pull his grandfather’s lightsaber towards her – the lightsaber chose _her_ over _him_ and that’s what hurt and anger Kylo more than the beating he received from her. His jaw tightened; teeth clenching hard and painfully as he remembers how the scrawny girl looked as she stood above his fallen body, after she had slashed his face. She has potential in her that he could shape into something powerful. Pity that she rejected his offer of teaching her the ways of the Force.  There was raw savagery, violence and hate in her brown eyes that were as strong as his own; perhaps, a result of him killing his fath – Han Solo and the traitor, FN-2187.

Han Solo was nothing but a fool who thought he could resurrect a dead boy just by calling to him. But Ben Solo is no more and Han Solo had to learn that with a lightsaber through his heart. Kylo could still feel the old man’s fingers on his face and he _despised_ it – despised how even with the skin of his face, lashed and burnt and scarring, he could still feel the ghost of fingers stroking there. Blinded by rage after having thought of a dead man soon to be forgotten, Kylo finally pulls his lightsaber towards him but before he could ignite it, an unendurable pain on his side forced him to let it go and fall on his knees; crying out and moaning. His ribs ache, his body aches, his chest feels like it is pressed hard against a hard, cold surface; crushing his lungs and making it hard to breathe but that is, perhaps, from the overwhelming emotions he is feeling. Tears began to gather in his eyes as he was immobilized by the pain. It’s – the pain is mostly centered on his ribs, on his side. The wound given to him by the wookie – he forgot all about it; forgot how he punched in an attempt to increase his pain…and also in an attempt to stop it from bleeding, as if that could work. Stupid.

Biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood and relishing how its coppery taste fills his mouth, he swears to make the wookie, the scavenger, the traitor, Skywalker, everyone who had made him into this wretched piece of work pay.

They will _all_ pay. 

 

 

* * *

 

Hux had been rather optimistic entering the command bridge when they reached D’qar and when they launched their attack, they took the Resistance by surprise and seeing ship after ship flying from the planet to the space where they were warmly welcomed by the First Order. It was all going so well – far better than Hux would have hoped – but it began to fall into a downward spiral when the Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron appeared in the scene, calling him ‘General Hugs’ like a complete imbecile. Hux actually thought the thick-skulled Resistance pilot is too ignorant and uneducated to know how to properly pronounce his last name despite it having only three letters so he let it slide and so he continually tried correcting him. The words Poe Dameron said to him stung him; driving a knife at his chest and reminding him of all the scars he had been trying to conceal. Hux had to dig his gloved fingers against his palm as he tightened his hands into fists, distracting himself and forcing himself to not go to _that dark place he refuses to dwell in again_ as he stood in the command bridge, in front of his men, talking to a member of their enemy.

Despite his endeavor to stop himself from crawling into that deep, dark void of self-loathing, Dameron’s words kept echoing inside his head.

‘Skinny guy’ – Does everyone in the Resistance know of his slightness? Hux had made sure to wear his greatcoat on every time they film their propaganda holos, made sure to square his already-padded narrow shoulders and stand upright and proud to make himself look bigger, _more menacing_ than he originally is.

_Thin as a slip of paper and just as useless._

‘If you reach him, tell him Leia has an urgent message for him…about his mother.’ – Perhaps, it isn’t a complete secret in the First Order that he is, in fact, Brendol Hux’s illegitimate son and sure, the Resistance would have known that fact. Hux wished that whenever someone mentions anything about his mother – the mother he never got to meet and never would – be it jokingly or in a serious note, he wished he doesn’t feel like someone has cut his stomach open for everyone to poke at and scrutinize or like he – and everyone in the bridge was looking at him, waiting for his reaction, judging him…and he just exploded, screaming to open fire on Dameron’s X-wing, punching at a console too hard that his hand hurt; surely it would bruise and become inflamed and tender sooner than later.

_You’re just like your mother. Weak, soft, foolish with hope and naïveté. So much like her, it’s disgusting._

And the scumbag was actually tooling with him, distracting Hux long enough to not only allow the Resistance to escape through hyperspace but also to destroy the dreadnought, the Fulminatrix, killing Captain Canady and hundreds, if not thousands, of First Order officers and personnel. All it took was one mistake – a mistake which he is solely responsible for.

Snoke wasn’t pleased with him too; contacting them from his ship after the destruction of their dreadnought and showing up in a ridiculous and yet still very frightening holo with only his head showing. Hux was certain that Snoke would berate him, scream at him for all the crew and weaponry they lost because of his arrogance and his misplaced overconfidence so he wanted to take the Supreme Leader’s call in his quarters. His crew had already seen him humiliated by a lowly Resistance pilot and he has had enough humiliation for one day but Snoke had other plans.

Standing inside his refresher, Hux stared at the unruly man in front of him. The man has hollow cheeks, pale skin, puffy green eyes ringed with bluish black that are indications of sleeplessness, blood had smeared on the corner of his lips and on his nose, his hair was disheveled; sticking randomly as though it were mussed violently.

_Ugly, revolting, weak thing…_

Hux opens the sink, drowning the voice of his father’s ghost with the sound of the pulsing water as he splashes it on his face before wiping his bloody nose and lip with a towel.

He didn’t know what hurt more: Snoke using the Force to slam him on his belly on the floor before sliding his body across it as if he were nothing but a cleaning droid and not a General and pinning him in place while he tells him what a disappointment he was or the fact that not one of his crew, not even Peavey, did anything but watch the Supreme Leader treat him that way. No one flinched when he was pinned on the floor, bleeding, ribs aching; they must have enjoyed it, must have thought that he deserved it. And maybe he did. Snoke using the Force to hurt him wasn’t new to him – he does it whenever he and Kylo fail him – but it was a new experience having his men watch it happen and not just Kylo and Snoke. Although Hux did have a hunch that his crew doesn’t like him too much and that they listen and follow his orders because, well, he is their superior officer and yet, it could be nice if they at least _care_ about him even the tiniest bit or would actually care if Snoke eliminates him on the spot. He tried to be pleasant with them, did he not? He was kind to his men or so he believes, and he tries to keep his berating to a minimum because…all the screaming and noisy insulting would only make him similar to Brendol.

Who is he kidding? It doesn’t matter whether they like him or cared for him or not…what matters is that they will always obey him.

Hux lets out a shuddering sigh, running his fingers through his mussed hair, strands of hair sticky and hard with pomade.

He hasn’t lost Snoke’s favor yet…no, he can still easily bounce back from this failure. The Resistance won’t get away from them and that’s what he told Snoke; trying to convince the Supreme Leader that he hasn’t lost his usefulness yet. They have the Resistance tied on the end of a string. In no time, the old shriveling bastard would be telling him how much of an asset he is in paving the way for the victory of the First Order.

Hux looks back at the man in front of him, staring at him. Same hollow cheeks, pallid skin but not a trace of blood anywhere on his face. His eyes though tired and black-rimmed, burns with a fire of ambition and drive. His father’s voice was gone for now, but Hux is certain that Brendol’s ghost would come back to haunt him just to spit on him and remind him constantly about his shortcomings. There would come a day that Brendol would finally shut up and leave him be but perhaps, that day isn’t today, or tomorrow or the day after that but it would come…and he knows that it would come when he finally snuffed away the Resistance and climbed the throne as the ruler of the First Order.

For now, however, he has to fix this horrible hair situation. They are currently en route to the Supremacy, Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship, as they were advised by the Supreme Leader himself before his holo disappeared, leaving Hux a bloody and pathetic shaking mess.

As Hux made his way back to the bridge, he reminded himself that it is just excitement from the anticipation of Snoke’s  reaction once he explains to him what he meant by having the Resistance ‘tied at the end of a string’ that’s making his limbs shake violently and not anxiety.

The last time he saw Snoke face-to-face was when he had to report to him after the destruction of Starkiller base. That, like the recent encounter, did not go well. Going there, Hux felt more confident because he thought that Snoke would overlook what happened to their superweapon because they were able to destroy five planets that aid the Resistance and he was able to do what Snoke instructed and that is to get Kylo Ren which he did. But unfortunately, he and Snoke did not see eye-to-eye. Hux, despite being a skeptic with the Force, knows of it – though his knowledge is very, very limited but that didn’t prepare him with Snoke penetrating into the defenses he built in his mind. Snoke reached in with The Force and at first, it felt like a hand was pawing through his skull and into his brain. Try as hard as he did then, he wasn’t able to hide his thoughts from Snoke. The more he resisted (or tried to, at least), the sharper the pain in his head became; it felt like someone jammed a thin blade through his head before slowly, slowly pushing it in deeper and deeper. He fell on his knees, eyes closed; wheezing and moaning in pain while at the back of his head, he sees images of his memories, hears his own thoughts echoing and he knew Snoke was watching all of these. Fear spiked his pulse; knowing that there would be a possibility that the Supreme Leader would discover his deepest, darkest secret. Snoke peels one layer of his mind after another; turning his moans into screams. The pain did not even recede when he lets his struggle slip. Surely, Snoke wanted to punish Hux then. Hux might have begged a little for it to stop but Hux wanted to pretend that he didn’t. Snoke reached Hux’s memories of his rescue of Kylo Ren and he – and Hux – saw the broken body of his apprentice on the snow-covered ground of Starkiller, saw Hux’s hand moving towards his blaster and heard him thinking of wanting to murder Kylo Ren.

Hux tried to stop the whimpers that escaped him when Snoke withdrew the Force from his head; pulling the cold, invisible blade that he had plunged into his mind. Snoke had seen too much but fortunately, not enough to grant Hux the death Hux so feared. He sensed Hux’s desire to eliminate Kylo Ren in Starkiller base, which he was unable to carry out because having Stormtroopers escort him. He could not kill Kylo Ren because there were witnesses present and there was also that lingering fear of Snoke that ultimately stopped him. Before Hux could even release a sigh of relief, Snoke forces him up to his toes, slightly suspended as Snoke walked towards him and loomed over him. The man, the creature or whatever Snoke is, always had an intimidating aura and up close, with the Force holding Hux in the air, whimpering, Snoke had him frozen with fear to the bone, at his mercy.

_Look at you, panting like a dog. Let’s see if you’re as loyal as one._

_…I am loyal, Supreme Leader._

“General, we’ve reached the Supremacy, docking inside as we speak.”

Hux cleared his throat; clenching and unclenching his hands before turning to look at whoever it was who spoke to him. It was Peavey. “Very good.” He shouldn’t have used his voice too soon, hating how it cracked when he spoke. “Inform Kylo Ren of our arrival and transfer in the Supremacy. And tell him to go to Supreme Leader Snoke’s throne room. Oversee the transfer while I am away.” He cleared his throat, controlling his voice so that no one would notice that there was something absolutely off with him. His anxiety is getting the best of him. The drumming noise of his increased heartbeat thrummed against his ears; pounding at the same beat as his gait. On his way out of the Finalizer, Hux reminded himself on and on to have more confidence in himself and the technology he had used to ensure that the Resistance wouldn’t escape them. If he could convince himself, he could convince anyone, even a powerful Force user like Snoke.

 

* * *

 

 

An inferior officer, whose face and name Kylo never cared to remember, informed him that the Finalizer has docked inside Snoke’s ship and that he is needed in the throne room. General Hux had went to Snoke first; probably to grovel for the Supreme Leader’s favor or make Kylo look like an utter foolish failure, exaggerating to make Kylo into a caricature of a man-child. After putting his mask on, Kylo left his quarters and went on his way without dilly-dallying despite the stabbing pain on his ribs. Kylo easily overheard in the halls of the ship that they lost the Fulminatrix because of the general’s glaring inexperience and incompetence. Apparently, Hux fell right into the Resistance’s Captain Poe Dameron’s attempt to distract him by toying with the pronunciation of his damned name. Snoke wasn’t too happy with it and using the Force, used Hux to mop the bridge (oh, the things Kylo would give to be able to have witnessed such a spectacle). Officers both young and old are laughing, talking, of course, because when the cat is gone, the mice comes out to play and Kylo feeds on the information he heard with a temporary glee; confirming what he already knows about Hux – that he isn’t as good as he think he is.

The sound of Snoke’s chuckles was the first thing Kylo hears echoing from the inside of the throne room on his way there. He could hear Hux’s passionate way of speaking which had always, always irked Kylo. He couldn’t make out the words he was saying, just hear that high-pitched, clipped voice and his Imperial accent but it doesn’t matter. Why should he care whatever it was Hux was telling Snoke? What could he be doing but trying to get to the Supreme Leader’s good side, that damn sycophant, and for some reason, Snoke would eat it up as though Hux was some sort of military genius which isn’t true. The damned worm couldn’t even keep his own superweapon in one piece.

“Tied to a string indeed, General Hux. Well done.” Snoke’s voice was clearer than that of Hux’s as Kylo got closer. Kylo need not look at Snoke to know that he is beaming with joy and pride. It made Kylo’s stomach turn. Hux turned when he felt his presence, looking at him for a few seconds before returning his attention to the Supreme Leader. “The Resistance will soon be in our grasp.”

Snoke’s throne room is the same as Kylo could remember it. Red, sleek and wide. At the corner of Kylo’s eyes, he could see the armor-clad Praetorian guards, the Supreme Leader’s personal protectors, just standing in place, their bodies as straight and stiff as though they were mere statues to the eyes of simpletons. For as long as he could remember, Kylo has never seen the guards out of their armors and he is certain that even Ben Solo hasn’t too.

“Thank you, Supreme Leader.”

Hux squares his shoulders as he turns around to leave. About time too. The heels of his boots clicked against the smooth floor; each tap infuriating Kylo whose feet were lighter compared to the thinner young man.

“It seems Hux’s new toy is working.” Snoke says, regarding Kylo as he enters the throne room.

Passing him by, Hux raised his face and gave him a wide, smug smirk; triumphant somehow despite all of his failures for the past cycles. The general is beaming brightly with excitement from Snoke’s praises. He loved every word that stroke his ego – this arrogant little squig whose only functioning units are his legs and mouth and teeth. Kylo wishes to close his hands around that throat of his, letting him choke on his screeches and words while sputtering saliva and legs kicking pathetically against the assault. But he couldn’t do that. Not with the Supreme Leader watching and not with Snoke’s orders of not harming his co-commander.  

From the proximity of their distance, Kylo notices that Hux has styled his hair differently from the last time he saw him. He had placed an awfully great amount of pomade on his bright red hair, making it look as flat as possible. Perhaps, being used as something in place of a cleaning droid have disheveled his neatly-styled hair and he decided to just put as much pomade as he could to prevent his hair from getting mussed again. What a vain fool.

Kylo refused to give Hux the pleasure of being able to elicit a reaction from him – not even a disinterested masked snort or a tilt of his masked head.

Kylo looks up; glancing at his Master, the grotesque and massive creature wearing a golden robe sitting on the black throne in the middle of the vast room. Snoke chuckled, speaking in a mocking tone, “You wonder why I keep a rabid cur in such a place of power?”

The general had just stepped into the turbolift Kylo rode on his way to the throne room. Kylo isn’t too sure if he heard the Supreme Leader called him an aggressive dog foaming in the mouth but he wished he did.  

“A cur's weakness, properly manipulated, can be a sharp tool.”

Perhaps, Snoke had already called Hux like that and Kylo wouldn’t be surprised.

Quietly, Kylo knelt down before the Supreme Leader, his dark master, keeping his head bowed.

“How's your wound?”

“It’s nothing.” Even Kylo’s vocoder couldn’t disguise the shaking of his already hoarse voice when he spoke. _Pathetic._ He could feel Snoke’s eyes glued at him, feel him scrutinizing his very breathing; he could feel his gaze leaving a mark on him – a mark that feels viscous, oily, thick, keeping him frozen with that invisible oppressing pressure.

“The mighty Kylo Ren.” Snoke says, “When I found you, I saw what all masters live to see. Raw, untamed power. And beyond that, something truly special. The potential of your bloodline. A new Vader. Now I fear I was mistaken.”

Kylo had wanted nothing more than to be like Darth Vader, or to be better than the grandfather he never got to meet but heard stories of and Snoke knew this, he was even the one who encouraged Kylo’s idolism of his grandfather, and now, he is using this as a knife to gut him like a karking fish. “I've given everything I have to you.” He said, feeling Snoke descend from the throne. He lifts his head so that he could look at the Supreme Leader.  “I’ve given my all to the dark side.”

“Take that ridiculous thing off.”

Hesitantly, Kylo followed; the helmet clicking as the apparatus that locks his helmet in place unlatches and a hissing noise followed as Kylo takes the helmet off to reveal his face.

“Yes, there it is.” Snoke spits the words at him. He stood from his throne, sneering as he made his way towards Kylo. “You have too much of your father's heart in you, son of Solo.”

Angered by his master’s words, Kylo did not hesitate to talk back at him, “I killed Han Solo.” He spat every word he spoke, keeping his glare pierced at Snoke, “When the moment came, I didn't hesitate.”

He didn’t hesitate; in fact, he even looked Han Solo in the eye as he pierced his lightsaber deeper into the old man’s body. With his fleeting life, with his dying breath, Han Solo, the fool that he was, still tried to look for Ben Solo in Kylo Ren but with his death, Kylo only added more gravel in the tomb where the young padawan was laid and buried.

“And look at you, the deed split your spirit to the bone.”

It did. There is no point in denying this.

“You were unbalanced…” Snoke lifts his hand, letting one finger touch his apprentice.

Kylo felt the lower lid of one eye twitch as he tried to keep himself still as Snoke touches him, as he traces that moist finger from his cheek and higher; tracing at the bandaged wound on his face. His Master is very strong with the Force, there is no doubt that he had felt Kylo’s conflict. No matter what lengths Kylo would go to hide his inner turmoil of Light and Darkness in him, he knows Snoke would find out and Kylo just wants…

The boiling anger inside him is too much to bear and he couldn’t ignore it anymore. There is a pressure building at both sides of his temple, it feels as though someone wants to crush his skull. But, wait…it wasn’t just an imaginary feeling of pressure pushing at his temples but Snoke brushing his mind with the Force. Taking a sharp, shuddering inhale of breath through his nose, Kylo continued to resist Snoke’s attempt to thread into his thoughts; his anger and frustration making it so difficult to concentrate doing so.

“…bested by a girl who had never held a lightsaber!”  

Snoke knew how to rile him up and Kylo, despite knowing what would happen if he acts against the Supreme Leader. Kylo was quick to rise to his feet and grab for his lightsaber but Snoke, despite his frail-looking yet tall form, was quicker than Ren as he zaps the Knight with Force lightning; knocking Ren off of his feet, crashing hard against the floor.

“You failed!” Snoke shouted; his hoarse voice loud enough to leave echoes in the throne room and yet the scrambling mess of a man before him barely heard him. Kylo’s ears were still ringing while he struggled to stand from the humiliating position his Master has placed him in. Snoke’s voice muffled but the words still cut him regardless. With a blurring vision, he fights back the need to close his eyes and he watches Snoke move back to sit on his throne. “Skywalker lives. The seed of the Jedi Order lives. And as long as it does, hope lives in the galaxy. I thought you would be the one to snuff it out. Alas, you're no Vader.”

Kylo stared into Snoke’s eyes; flinching when he sees them glued on him as if he meant to pierce his soul with a simple gaze. Snoke’s eyes are blue as the fathomless ocean and as mysterious, dark and frightening. Ben Solo was once unable to look into those eyes before because Ben Solo was weak and foolish. _Just like his father._

Snoke snarls at him; spitting every last word out venomously towards his apprentice. “You're just a fool in a mask playing pretend.”

“Supreme Leader – ”

“Get out of my sight!”

Kylo pushed himself back to his feet and did what he always do, follow his Master. His legs still feel like jelly and as he walked towards the turbolift but at times, the muscles of his limbs would spasm, making it a far longer trip out of the throne room. Snoke was still watching him. Always watching him, even when he stepped into the turbolift, even when the turbolift begins to descend. Snoke’s voice echoes in his ears; whispering now like the way young Ben Solo had heard him, ‘ _You’re no Vader.’_ The words lingered in his head while he looks at his helmet. He has welded it himself, crafting it similar to that of his grandfather’s. He had been so proud of it when he first made it but now, the longer he looked at it, the more grotesque it becomes. He thought of honoring his grandfather as he wears this helmet in his hand while conquering planet after planet. Now, it twists his stomach to think of wearing it again. Like…a fool in a mask –

Snarling, Kylo slams the helmet against the wall; interrupting his own thoughts. Something shattered. Without lifting his head, without looking at the spot he hit, he withdrew the helmet; it was dented, slightly crushed and looking at it that way filled Kylo with a liberating glee he never thought he would feel but still, anger and hatred lingered inside him and so, he slammed the damn headgear on the wall again, wanting to feel the pleasure of having destroyed something with his bare hands dominate the toxic feeling of anger and hatred and fear and uncertainty. He slammed the helmet once again, leaving shattered glasses and denting the wall and leaving exposed wires to sputter electricity. His hand hurt, ached…but he didn’t care. With all his might, he crashed it on the wall again. And again. And again. And again. Until his muscles hurt. Until his chest no longer feels tight.

The glee that he felt was but fleeting, unfortunately; now gone and he ended up with the same damn boiling fury and abhorrence that had had his heart beating in such a fast pace since Snoke's sharp tongue had lashed at him, aiming for his neck.

His grip on the blasted helmet tightened. 

It’s not enough, it’s not enough, it’s not enough...

It’s never enough.

Grunting, Kylo throws whatever was left of his helmet on the floor just in time as the door opens. The sound of it crashing against the durasteel didn't do anything for Kylo. Two officers tensed at the just sight of him, standing erect with attention. They could see how he is clearly vexed and Kylo could sense the fear in them. Pathetic. 

“Prepare my ship.” Kylo hisses at them, huffing and puffing like an irrational animal and he storms off; leaving the two superior officers trembling and taken aback by the sheer power pulsing from the Force user. With Kylo Ren in the same space as them, the air seem to become oppressive and thick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come and say hi on [tumblr](https://mademoisellebianx.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Apologies in advance for my slow-ass writing/typing.


	2. A Game with No Wrongs, No Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren discovers that he is bonded with the Force-sensitive scavenger from Jakku and uses this to his advantage. Meanwhile, Hux hesitates one more time and instantly regrets it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Finally updating this after one month of ( ͡◉◞ ͜ʖ◟ ͡◉) derping ( ͡◉◞ ͜ʖ◟ ͡◉) herping ( ͡◉◞ ͜ʖ◟ ͡◉) around. (Work had been killer for the past days and I'm sure that it's gonna be a lot harder in the coming days hahahahaha)  
> Thank you for being so patient with me. Once again, this is un-beta'd.

_Rabid cur._ Snoke’s mocking laughter and the sharp clicking sound of his and Kylo’s boots against the smooth floor of the throne room still linger in Hux’s ears.

On his way to the command bridge, Hux chews at the inside of his cheek hard enough to leave himself wincing and tasting blood.

Snoke must have thought that he had gone into the turbolift when he read Kylo’s thoughts out loud. So it seems that the Force user thinks of him, the General of the First Order, as a mutt – a pathetic dog that Kylo thinks as, mouth foaming as it growls. Good, he could take it as a compliment. Back at Arkanis, dogs were not only loyal pets but are also lethal hunters that people brought with them whenever they go out hunting. Snoke asked him if he were loyal as soon as they reached the Finalizer after their failure in Starkiller base…he is, he isn’t lying when he said that he was loyal to the First Order. General Armitage Hux is loyal to First Order’s cause but he is certainly not loyal to Supreme Leader Snoke and most especially not to Kylo Ren. One of these days, the rabid cur that he is would bite back and when he does, he would bite back hard and when he does, he would finally take what is his and that is the throne.

 _Supreme Leader Hux_ , now doesn’t that have a good ring to it? With the Supreme Leader distracted with his failure of an attack dog, he could finally bask with the joy he gets from his treasonous thoughts without fearing another Force beating from Snoke.

It wouldn’t be too long until he grasps that throne the wretched creature sits on and become the rightful Supreme Leader of the First Order. The words would have been absolutely delicious on his tongue but he couldn’t say it no matter how much he wanted to. This is Snoke’s ship, after all, and someone or something could hear him and tattle on him. One day, he would be on the throne and Kylo Ren would be kneeling before him, at his beck and call. He longed to be able to control that fool but…truth is, he tries to hide it but he is terrified of Kylo.

Kylo is unpredictable, strong in the Force like Snoke, an uncontrollable variable between him and his future empire of order. The man is enforcing and brutish…someone he wanted to have by his side to command.

Kylo Ren.

Kylo had a lot of nerve to think of him as a mangy mutt when it’s he who acts like Snoke’s hound, his attack dog – biting and barking and chasing the enemy Snoke asked him to come after. At least Hux was able to bounce back from his failure in Starkiller, being able to design a new tech that allowed the First Order to track the Resistance fleet through hyperspace from the Supremacy, unlike Kylo who is obviously being berated by the Supreme Leader at this very moment. Hux smirks at the thought of the Knight being scolded by the Supreme Leader, he’s fortunate to have found a ghastly mask to replace the one from Starkiller to put over his absolutely hideous face.

He feels better than he did before his meeting with Snoke, his posture more confident, the anxiety he feels decreased to a minimum although it is still there (it will always be there, like a fungus attached to his brain) and the irritation he felt about the ‘rabid cur’ comment disappears as soon as he reminded himself of Kylo Ren’s failure.

Once he has reached the command bridge, he finds Peavey and Captain Yago, a veteran who must have known his father just like Peavey. Yago gives him a stiff greeting, apparently for formality purposes only – Hux doesn’t miss the hostility in his stare and the slight tone of sarcasm when he pronounces his title. The man hates him, it’s too obvious and the reason beside that hatred is obvious too – he’s envious of the achievements Hux was able to get in such a young age. The old fools, both Peavey and Yago, would rue the day he decided to be the way that he is towards him – especially once Hux becomes Supreme Leader.

Hux would have lingered longer with the thoughts of sitting on the throne and having people bow before him but, alas, he has rebels to destroy. He scrutinizes at the holotank that displays the coordinates to the Resistance’s fleet. They’re almost there, they almost got them.

“Sir, Commander Ren had requested to have the TIE Silencer prepared for launch.”

Hux raises an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching as he fought back a sneer. This is obviously a ploy of his to get back to the Supreme Leader’s good side. Also, Hux doubts that ‘requested’ is the right term to use to connect to Kylo. The spoiled, entitled younger man never ‘requests’ anything. Instead, he commands and demands. Hux must admit – he is very much tempted to not grant what Kylo wanted just to spite him. Hux also wants to see what Kylo could offer using his TIE because he has yet to witness the big oaf actually piloting first-hand although Kylo had gone on to missions piloting TIE fighters. Hux had overheard Stormtroopers commenting that Commander Ren was an excellent pilot and so he was chosen to be the test pilot of the ship. Hux doubted that the brute can maneuver such a sophisticated spacecraft with those big, clumsy and destructive paws of his.

“Request granted,” Hux said, nodding at the shaken petty officer. Kylo Ren must have threatened the man to get to Hux as quickly as he can. If Kylo would end up making a fool of himself in this attack then this could go in Hux’s favor. Even if Kylo does show exceptional piloting skills then at least Hux could see the TIE Silencer’s performance and see if it needed improving. Hux doubts though that the Silencer needed any improvements at all, however. He had designed that TIE specifically for Kylo Ren. Well, that sounded embarrassing. It’s not like he had kept himself awake at night, designing the spacecraft and thinking of Kylo and his preferences for the TIE to be absolutely perfect for him. If the TIE prototype got any defects from manufacturing, however, causing the TIE to explode, perhaps, then Kylo Ren would be finally eliminated, without Hux having to plan for it.

“We’ve caught up with the Resistance fleet, Sir,” Peavey interrupts Hux’s thoughts.

“Good. Deploy the TIE squadrons,” Hux says, quickly recovering from being yanked out his foolish thoughts about the Silencer and his mystical rival. 

 

* * *

 

 

“Follow my lead.”

Kylo must admit, he isn’t at all surprised how meticulously and carefully designed the TIE Silencer is considering it was designed by General Hux’s dainty hands and keen-to-details eyes. However, he will not let that damned weasel of a pallid man know that he thinks that. The fool will get off from the smallest, simplest praise from someone, anyone...even from Kylo. He’s like a pauper begging for praises instead of coins or food. It was sickening to watch.

Back at the throne room, Kylo would have choked the life out of the General for smirking at him like that if Snoke wasn’t watching them. Kylo was prepared to march to the command bridge if Hux didn’t allow him to go and there, he would have choked him into following his command. He was angry enough to not give a damn what Snoke would do to him for killing the rabid cur whose weakness can be exploited and turned into a sharp knife. But as much as Kylo would hate to admit, General Hux has his usefulness and Starkiller had been proof to that and also, this TIE Silencer. Armitage Hux could design efficient and menacing weapons that could aid in crushing the Resistance once and for all. Hux’s brilliance with weapons and tech, however, does not make up for his arrogance, his lack of leadership knowledge and his inexperience.

‘Hux’s brilliance’. The twists and turns he made while inside the Silencer must have rattled his brain somehow that he thought the redhead is brilliant.

Kylo shoots down one X-wing, watching as it explodes. He watches as flames devour it greedily and his impassive expression almost gave into a smirk. Ben Solo had once dreamt of piloting an X-wing, had once looked forward to every chance he got from Han Solo and from Poe Dameron to show off his great piloting skills. Pleasure coursed through him as he shot one Rebellion craft after another, these fools had all been Ben Solo once; a hopeful, naive child who yearned to ride a cool aircraft to shoot down the enemies of his mother and father. Pathetic. And like Ben Solo, they’re dead now – by Kylo Ren’s hands. He maneuvers the TIE, approaching closer and closer to the Raddus, the Resistance’s flagship. _Leia Organa’s flagship_. Spotting the ship’s hangar, Kylo opened fire, being generous with the amount of firepower he used on that area, certain that there are a number of Resistance personnel in there, preparing to fight back. Surely, they must have swarmed in there like ants and Kylo easily squashed them.

It feels good.

The Silencer passes the hangar, heading closer and closer towards the command bridge. Kylo felt his heart skip a beat. He feels it again – the pull to the Light; a tug at the thin thread that is still wrapped around his neck, the thread attached to none other than Ben Solo’s mother, Leia Organa.

Kylo’s thumb hovers towards the trigger, ready to open fire at the bridge, at General Leia Organa.

He can sense her – sense that the Force had become stronger in her, her very presence so overwhelming that it felt as if she was just standing in front of him, one arm stretched towards him as though she yearns to touch him. But how could she? Why would Leia Organa, the mother of the padawan he murdered, the wife of the scoundrel whose chest he pierced with his lightsaber, want to be in the same area as him?

Surely, she…

She isn’t angry at him!

But why? After all that Kylo has done…Leia still…

_Come home, Ben._

_I miss you._

_Ben._

_Come back to me._

_Ben._

_Ben._

_Ben._

Kylo swallows the hard lump forming in his throat, threatening to suffocate him. He had hoped that General Leia Organa would be angry…vengeful, even, but she isn’t and yet…

Perhaps, she’s still in complete denial.

He takes in a shuddering breath, running his thumb on the button; wanting to, needing to pull the karking trigger but he couldn’t. Leia’s pull on the smallest fragment of Light inside him was too strong.

Kylo jerks from his seat, feeling the sharp and sudden disconnection from General Leia Organa first before he sees the missiles hitting the command ship of Raddus. He watches, eyes wide, mouth slightly opening, as the flames engulfed the bridge; consuming it into nothing. What was once a person, what was once a princess of an extinct planet, what was once a powerful General, what was once his mother is now ash scattered along with debris and rubbish. If he was only fast enough...he could have stopped the…

What the hell is he thinking?

“Ren.”

General Hux’s sharp voice snapped him back to reality, the abhorrent voice snipping and cutting at the thread of his thoughts like a pair of scissors. Kylo glances at the small hologram before him. But of fucking course the vainglorious General Hux would have a holoprojector to display his face – as if people of the First Order are not already sick of seeing his pallid rat-like countenance and hearing his voice.

“Ren, the Resistance have pulled out of range,” General Hux says to him, “we can’t cover you from here. Return to the fleet.”

There it is again. That subtle but thick arrogance lingering in each of his words. That patronizing tone of voice Kylo always, always hear from different people in the past and that includes Hux too. Kylo can always disobey Hux’s advice and pursue the Resistance cruisers. They may be fast but Kylo can damn pilot this ship fast enough to pursue the Resistance. He doesn’t have to listen to Hux, of all people.

“This is an order from Leader Snoke. They wouldn’t last long. I am certain that it would only be a matter of time until they run out of fuel,” as though reading his mind and feeling his reluctance in following his order, Hux reassures him like the stupid sycophant that he is, using his skills with his silver tongue to convince him. “We can track them from the ship. You don’t have to go there without proper cover like a complete buffoon and risking damage to the TIE. Fall back.”

As much as Kylo hates to admit it, the general had a point. Damn him. Snarling, he maneuvers his TIE Silencer, flying back to the Supremacy.

 

* * *

 

“What is the point of all this if we can't blow up three tiny cruisers?” Hux spits, making gesticulations at the holotank displaying the Resistance cruisers in front of him. He spoke to Peavey who stood in attention near him, face impassive but the corners of his lips seem to twitch when Hux finally set his eyes on him but he kept them in a straight line, free from any emotion whatsoever.

“They're faster and lighter, _sir_ ,” Peavey explains, as-a-matter-of-factly. He cocked his head, addressing him as ‘sir’ but using such a condescending tone of voice. It reminds Hux of how his father used to talk to him. Peavey continues, “They can't lose us, but they can keep at a range where our cannons are ineffective against their shields.”

“Well, keep up the barrage. Let's at least remind them that we're still here.”

 “Very good, sir.”

Hux scrutinizes the scene before him, letting a bit of glee fill him. “They won't last long burning fuel like this. It's just a matter of time,” he said, speaking more to himself than to Peavey. The First Order’s victory is within their grasp and it is all thanks to him, General Armitage Hux, the genius who was able to invent a tracker that can find the Resistance fleet even when they had already jumped into hyperspace, using a sensor that could pinpoint the target’s last trajectory and their computer system with its vast information would analyze the potential destination until it finds them. This could be done in mere minutes. No matter where they would go, the First Order will find them…and they seem to realize this too, not jumping to lightspeed to get away from them to save fuel. It’s so pathetic that Hux almost finds it laughable.

”Commander Ren is about to dock back to the Supremacy, General Hux.”

“Ah, good,” Hux exclaims, snapping out of his thoughts. Perhaps, it’s time he gather what Kylo has thought of the TIE Silencer while his memory of his experience using it is still fresh. Hux is certain that the data gathered from the test drive is accurate but he also needed to hear the personal experience of the pilot because of course, technology could only do so much and it has its limitations.  “I leave the bridge to the two of you, Yago, Peavey. I just have some things to attend to.” He does not miss the side-eyes the two older men, Yago and Peavey, give him before he turns to leave them, the heels of his shoes clicking against the smooth runway. 

When Kylo Ren flew too far for them to cover him, Hux had been tempted to let him go, to let him go on a murderous rampage only to get himself killed because of his impulsiveness and emotional instability. But he knew he couldn’t do that – Kylo is still useful as a major piece in the First Order. Truth is, Snoke didn’t order for Kylo to return, it’s more of Hux’s decision than Snoke’s; he just used the Supreme Leader’s name so that Kylo would listen to him with no questions asked.

Hux noticed that Kylo hesitated from obliterating the Resistance flagship, maybe because his mother was there. Of course, Kylo Ren’s parentage wasn’t a secret to Hux. Being in a high position in the military and seeing to Supreme Leader Snoke personally, he had the privilege to know information that was supposed to be kept secret to the lowly officers. Hux actually prides himself of knowing that Kylo Ren is Ben Solo, the Jedi Killer and Organa and Solo’s estranged only son. Although Kylo Ren’s face was never actually a complete mystery, he doubts that people of the First Order know how Ben Solo once looked like so Kylo might as well be a ghost, a mysterious man with strong mystical connections that sprung out of nowhere to be part of their cost…or to be Snoke’s glorified servant, that is.

Hux reaches the hangar in time with the TIE Silencer successfully landing back and parking. He walks faster, keeping his eyes on the ship as the cockpit opens with a hiss and as the tall figure of Kylo Ren slowly moves out of it.

“Ren –” Hux feels his words getting trapped in his throat as he watches Kylo jumping from the platform instead of descending from the airstair like a completely insane brute. Seeing him doing so actually reminded Hux of someone who used to do that, reminded him how he found that simple action to be quite endearing once. Kylo lands on his feet without as much as any effort or difficulty despite having jumped from quite a distance. He glances in response to Hux’s call, some strands of his hair over his eyes and perhaps, out of an involuntary spasm, the dark-haired Knight pushes them out of the way – another action from him that brought Hux memories he’d rather forget.

Kylo reminds him so much about a young man he used to know. Perhaps, that is the root cause of his hatred for Kylo – along with the obvious which is his presence being an obstacle to Hux’s grandest ambition.

Hux tightens his hands into fists as he puts them behind him, standing straight and calm despite him burying his gloved fingers against the meat his palm. His hand still hurt when he slammed it on one console during his encounter with Poe Dameron, the Resistance pilot, but he was glad for the pain that distracts him from revisiting memories he wished to push away. Damn Ren for making him think about them at all.

“What do you want, Hux?” Kylo asks, his eyes empty from any emotion but his voice sounded irritated.

“Well, I’m here to ask you what you thought of the TIE Silencer,” Hux explains. He is glad that he got his voice back despite its sudden…hiccup just now. He would not want to humiliate himself in front of Kylo by stammering like a complete fool. “Obviously if I ask you to give me a written report about it, you would end up not doing it and I would like to be able to make the necessary improvements as soon as possible.”

“It’s good enough…” Kylo says, pauses and then adds, “Efficient.”

Hux raises an eyebrow, wondering if Kylo was being sarcastic but given their long history of throwing snide remarks and being completely snide with one another, Hux knows a sarcastic comment if he hears one and what Kylo just said isn’t one. That was the closest thing to a compliment Kylo has ever given to him and Hux hated that blood rushed to his cheeks and that a light feeling of contentment filled his chest upon hearing this from his long-time rival. He expected Kylo to dismiss his request or that he would say something completely petty like he hated it and that it was poorly-designed just to spite Hux like some damn immature child. 

 “Anything else?” Hux hates the hopeful tone that is in his voice when he spoke, hated that he wanted to hear more of what his mystical rival has to say about the Silencer.

“I would have preferred that it accompanies only one pilot,” Kylo snaps, probably hating that horrid hopefulness in Hux’s voice as much as Hux did, “Imagine, if the TIE gets shot down by the enemy, we lose not just one ship but also two supposedly good and competent pilots. Besides, with controls as simple as that, one pilot is enough to operate it. Also, make it smaller. The smaller the ship, the faster it would be because it would be more lightweight, and more difficult to shoot down.”

Hux must admit, he is impressed by Kylo’s suggestions as well as his knowledge about ships but it is expected from the son of Han Solo –

“Your thoughts, General.”

The animosity in Kylo’s voice is enough to halt Hux’s thoughts.

In an instant, Kylo’s eyes grew darker. He glares at him as though warning him to _think_ deeper, to _think_ further about the man who perished along with his superweapon.  Hux shouldn’t be afraid of Kylo. Kylo would never lift a finger to hurt him, not when Supreme Leader Snoke has anything to say about it…but looking at Ren right now, there’s something different about him. It’s as if there is a wildness in him that Hux had never seen from him before and it’s…horribly frightening and yet, at the same time, it is slightly arousing; having to sense that power emanating from him. Hux wishes to control _that_ power.

“I suggest you thread lightly with that mind of yours,” the dark-haired man said, his eyes studying Hux’s face carefully as though he meant to read every microexpression he would make. He narrows his eyes at him and Hux could not help but swallow. He whispers, “It’s too damn loud.”

Before Hux could retort, Kylo walks away from him; leaving him there on the hangar. Hux lets him go, he’s got what he needed from him anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

The General just could not wait for him to get out of the hangar before coming to him to ask for him to tell him how much of a good job he made with the damn TIE Silencer. He walked confidently – of course, the arrogant fool has utmost trust in his weapon designs, but when Kylo stepped out of the ship, Hux paused and looked like he had seen a ghost. It was funny, really, that face he made – his already pale face became almost white as a freshly-laundered sheet and his jaw dropped, lower lip trembling.

_He looks exactly like…_

Before Kylo could hear the last word or words from Hux’s thoughts, Hux squashed these thoughts as though he knew that Kylo was listening to him. It was not like Kylo cared what Hux was thinking about, really Kylo just didn’t like the idea of people hiding things from him. In fact, he hated it when people try to hide their thoughts from him. Like when Han Solo and Leia Organa hid things from Ben, thoughts never resurfacing from their minds no matter how much Ben tried to listen to their minds for anything that would explain to him why they acted strangely, why they gave him such strange looks and why they…

It doesn’t matter.

General Hux doesn’t matter. Shouldn’t matter, in fact.

Obviously, whatever it was on his mind was nothing but some blatant and pathetic insult that he desperately wanted to throw on Kylo’s face but stopped himself doing so to kiss his ass and receive the karking praises about his kriffing TIE Silencer in return. What pissed Kylo off was that he had little negative things to say about it too but to spite Hux, he kept his positive comments brief as in two-descriptive-words brief. Hux, being the damn predictable rodent that he is, brightened upon hearing his praise. He was just so happy and excited from receiving a positive review of his designed ship from his biggest rival that he could have been physically vibrating with giddiness. Kylo wasn’t even looking to impress the fool with his knowledge about ships when he began listing what he didn’t like about the Silencer but Hux was impressed nonetheless, in fact, the fool was surprised even when he told himself that he expected Kylo Ren to know a lot about ships and how to fly them.

The bandages covering the wound the scavenger had inflicted on him is starting to itch and he was instructed by the medical droid to go back to the medbay as soon as it does as it is a sign that it’s about time for the bandages to be removed. Kylo makes his way to the medbay, pushing Hux out of his mind as he storms off; not even regarding the existence of every single petty officers who saluted him until he reaches his destination. In the surprisingly empty medbay, he allows himself to be instructed to sit awkwardly while a droid removes the bandages from his face.

Quietly, Kylo lets the droid do its job; its thin needle-like appendages removing his bandage slowly and precisely. He despises having to keep himself still, despises the silence. With the quiet and the stillness, Kylo can feel _her_. General Leia Organa, she’s alive apparently. Damn the relief he felt swelling in his chest. He chews the inside of his cheek, tasting blood while he distracts himself from the surging feeling of relief and focuses more on his anger – his anger that he had been harboring for years and years now. He _feels_ that she became stronger in the Force than when Ben Solo last encountered her when the Silencer flew by the command bridge of the Raddus. General Organa is not as strong in the Force as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader, she’s almost close to being Force-null like Han Solo and so, it’s a complete mystery how she was able to survive that blast.

Is it because he hesitated?

A sudden warmth caresses his face – a brisk peck from the sun; something rather pleasant and yet very much out of the blue, given the dark, cold, isolated area he was in. The feeling takes him by surprise, making him jolt from his seat. Beside him, the surgical droid made a whirring sound close to an apology, as if its rather painless tug that had removed the bandage that once covered the healed wound on his face was the cause of his reaction.

Kylo slaps the droid’s mechanical hand away.

Something…is different…

There’s something…

He can hear a subtle chirping noise from a creature Kylo does not recognize. It sounds like it’s coming from…nearby? But that’s impossible! Kylo glances around, trying to detect where the eerie sound was coming from but it wasn’t a bird or a strange creature that chirps but a girl – the _scavenger_! She still has her hair in that ridiculous three bun hairstyle but is wearing a different set of clothing from the last time he saw her. Her clothes…it has an eerie resemblance to what Han Solo used to wear. So, she must have reached the Resistance after their scuffle at Starkiller and General Leia Organa must have offered her these new clothes. Try as Kylo can, the feeling of envy and hatred rose in him as soon as he realizes that the lowly scavenger could be filling a certain void in the Resistance General’s heart.

Their eyes lock with each other, brown and hazel meeting. At first, Kylo sees shock in those eyes then her eyes darkened with pain, hatred and anger all at once before Kylo could react, she grabs a blaster and shoots it towards his direction.

At first, Kylo is wholly convinced that whatever it is that he is seeing is nothing but some sort of apparition (despite the fact that her form being unlike that of a ghost but that of some human being standing right before him) but he felt that blow from the blaster like a punch in the gut, he heard the explosion of rubble behind him. Kylo groans as he was reminded that the wound from the wookie’s crossbow was still tender. He grits his teeth, looking up and finding that the scavenger is walking away. Where is she going? Could it be that she’s already found Skywalker? Kylo pushed himself up, leaving the medbay as he chased after the scavenger. He finds her soon in the halls, and without even thinking he reaches out to her direction while she turns to face him.

“You'll bring Luke Skywalker to me,” Kylo says, reaching to grasp her with the Force but to no avail.

This, whatever this is, is the work of the Force.

It has to be.

“You're not doing this. The effort would kill you,” Kylo mumbles, meaning to imply that he finds her weak. She _is_ weak. He smirks, asking, “Can you see my surroundings?”

“You're gonna pay for what you did!” The scavenger hisses.

Useless words. Pathetic. Though her rage was actually laughable. Kylo knows exactly what she’s talking about – she wants him to pay for murdering Han Solo. It’s funny that she’s upset, hurt and angry that he killed someone she bonded with for only three days at most. Pathetic.

He ignores her.

“I can’t see yours. Just you.”

Kylo has heard of Force users being able to form a bond with another Force user, allowing them to communicate despite a great distance they have between one another. It’s common between Master and padawan but the scavenger was neither his Master nor his padawan. Ben Solo and Luke, Kylo Ren and Snoke…they were unable to form a Force bond and yet, he was able to form a bond with this girl? Through one encounter? As far as he knows, _he_ isn’t strong enough to create a bond with her with just one encounter, no…but is it possible for her to be the one who…?

Before Kylo could even understand what was happening, the girl was gone; her stature dissolving into thin air within seconds.

 

* * *

  

Hux had just finished typing Kylo’s report regarding the improvements to be done to the TIE Silencer and had sent it to the manufacturer for them to make the necessary improvements. When Kylo retreated to whatever hellhole he went to after their little exchange, Hux went to his personal quarters. The fool must be destroying valuable equipment while Hux typed away. Luckily, this isn’t Hux’s ship…

Pushing his datapad aside, Hux lets out a long shuddering sigh. His ribs start to ache again as he was typing on his datapad, maybe because of sitting on the same damn position for a certain amount of minutes straight. He really should have his ribs checked after the whole thing with Snoke and the deck in the Finalizer but he couldn’t find the time to go to  the damn medbay when he has too much things to do and there’s no way he would be missing out on the final hours of the Resistance.

Back there, on the hangar, Kylo reminded him of a cadet he once knew when he was still in the Academy. That fool whose wide brown eyes were so full of dreams, full of hope and courage _and love_. That cadet, that amazing, dashing pilot, once dreamt of becoming a hero who would single-handedly destroy the wretched Republic and all its allies. It’s a pity that he didn’t die in battle, didn’t die as a hero, instead he died in the hands of his lover’s abusive father who couldn’t stand the thought of his weak and thin as a slip of paper son being attracted to someone of the same gender. Hux is sorry that he’s ever met that cadet even to this day. Kylo Ren, that blasted man, looks so much like that pitiful cadet when he descended from the landing deck. They have the same voluptuous lips, the same expressive brown eyes and the same cocky aura whenever near a damn ship – like they were the best damn pilot in the hangar and they know it! He couldn’t help but think how he found it endearing how that cadet once looked so smug unlike when Kylo does it, all he could feel was irritation.

If that cadet were still alive, he could have been the one test-driving the TIE Silencer, not Kylo kriffing Ren.

‘The cadet’…

Hux couldn’t even think of his name without feeling a sharp pain in his chest. It’s unfair to keep him buried in his memories when he might be the one good thing that happened in his life. Along with his alcohol-driven delusions with that damn imaginary cat friend of his that shows up when he’s drunk out of his mind in the Academy and seeing things and hearing things he wanted. However, his greatest memory had been the most tragic one as well so, maybe, he shouldn’t be so hard on himself for wanting to forget it. Besides, he could make fond and happy memories as soon as he becomes Supreme Leader.

He hadn’t had time to plan how he would eliminate those two and how could he when he has limited knowledge about the Force? Perhaps, he could pray to the stars that Snoke die out of old age. How old is that damned bastard anyway? Snoke is his biggest problem. Kylo Ren is a reckless and impulsive fool and sooner or later he would do some idiotic stunt and get himself killed or maybe, he would actually betray the First Order and go back to his Mommy, crying, then go back to being Ben pfassking Solo. That isn’t an impossible scenario with the damn fool’s sentimentality.

Hux is actually glad that Brendol taught him to suppress this sentimentality, despite all the childhood trauma Brendol had him endure. Ties are better off severed especially in war. True, there is no harm in keeping allies (this is why he has Phasma and Tritt Opan) but they don’t have a tight connection with one another. Hux would not hesitate to have them disposed once they try double-cross him. Brendol was right all along. The fucker would be laughing now if he would read his mind or if he was alive – relationships such as friendship and love or whatever attachment are nothing but weaknesses and in the end, he has no one to lean on but himself.

In this damned personal quarters, he may be alone but at least he has what always mattered, what only mattered – _power_. Soon, he would have more of it. He isn’t little Armie anymore, that little boy who lamented why he had always been left alone in their estate in Arkanis, watching from his bedroom as the rain fell, wondering when will it stop as well as wanting to go out of the house just to go against his father’s wishes that he stay inside their house. This is the price of power…and Hux doesn’t mind it.

Not one bit.

 

* * *

 

 

During his rest cycle, Kylo paces back and forth across his quarters, pondering about the incident. He doesn’t want to contact Snoke and ask for his advice – it’ll be pointless. Snoke would probably mock him for not detecting the bond sooner or for not understanding it. He’s on his own.

The Force is connecting them somehow, for whatever reason – truthfully, Kylo doesn’t care why it was formed, he is more concerned with how it was formed. True, he is strong enough to create a Force bond with an equally strong Force-sensitive but he doesn’t remember forming that bond. Did the girl do it by accident? Did _he_? The girl, like him, didn’t seem to understand it too, judging by her reaction when they saw each other, which was good. He can use this – whatever the hell _this_ is.

He encounters the scavenger again soon afterwards. It doesn’t catch him off-guard like the last time. Before seeing her visage, he hears the soft pitter-patter of rain. When he closes his eyes, he sees a pair of hands – delicate ones raising their palms up towards the dark grey sky as rain poured heavily. He actually feels rain drenching his body too. Kylo turns around and he sees the girl standing in front of him, same hair, same outfit, only that she is wearing a poncho to cover herself from the rain. The connection between them allows Kylo to hear her thoughts before she sees him. He feels her happiness, her excitement as she watches the rain fall and her thoughts shifted to...Kylo sees the dark-skinned young man, the _traitor_ , FN-2187 – no, the scavenger calls him _Finn._ She was thinking about him, wondering if he had ever seen rain before, wondering how he would react to seeing what she was seeing that time. She misses him...she is thinking of his smile, his laughter, the way his eyes sparkle when their eyes met and he said her name, ‘Rey’...then she noticed Kylo. Once she is aware that the Force is once again connecting them then her mind and her emotions shifted.

Kylo sees himself stabbing Han Solo, pushing his lightsaber against the traitor, he saw himself slashing FN-2187’s back.

The scavenger – Rey...her name is Rey, as the damned ex-stormtrooper had called her – has found Luke Skywalker. Luke hasn’t told her what happened when Ben destroyed his damn Jedi temple, and yet she acts like she knows who he is, calling him a monster.

A _monster._ Kylo has heard that before. He’s been called that in the past – mostly by random fools he is about to slaughter – but he did feel like he were one before he was ever Kylo Ren. Han Solo and Leia Organa had made Ben Solo feel like he were a monster. Not directly, of course – they would never do that – but the silent glances they would give each other whenever he accidentally breaks something, the disappointed voices they would use when they try to appease him, the way they brushed off his wishes to be a pilot like his father so that he can be trained by his uncle, the legend, Luke Skywalker in the Light Side of the Force are enough to make Ben Solo know that they think of him as a monster. And so, Ben Solo, the son of two heroes, became the monster, Kylo Ren the Jedi Killer.

He _is_ a monster.

“ _Ren_?”

When the connection between him and the scavenger was severed just now, Kylo is drenched with rain that originated from wherever Rey was. Why didn’t he hear Hux approaching? Probably because he was too distracted. Kylo raises his damp face, seeing Hux standing a few feet away from him, hands behind him. He looks confused as though he was expecting to see something but ended up not seeing it. How long has this sycophantic rodent of a General been standing there?

“What?” Kylo snarls.

“Who were you talking to?” Hux asks him, his eyes wandering the area, obviously looking for something.

“Snoke,” Kylo replies; lying between his teeth but Hux wouldn’t know that and he wouldn’t dare question anything when the Supreme Leader is involved. “What’re you doing here?”

Finally, Hux’s eyes rest on Kylo’s countenance, “Is there a leak in here somewhere that I couldn’t see? Your face is wet,” he said, his forehead wrinkling as he scowls, “and I could’ve sworn that I heard...running water.”

“You’re hearing things,” Kylo snorts, rolling his eyes as Hux gives him a hateful look, “it’s not like this would be the first time for it to happen, General.”

In the years of tolerating Hux’s irritating yet insignificant presence, Kylo is able to note that the red-haired man would hear things (usually his father’s voice) whenever he becomes exhausted to the bone from working too much or whenever his anxiety had gotten the best of him.

Hux’s face turns red, looking ashamed and hating himself. He immediately kicks himself for letting Kylo notice those incidents wherein his weaknesses consumed him; cursing himself internally.

“Everything is fine. Move along, Hux.”

Fortunately, Hux did not have the time or patience to press Kylo with the matter and left when he finally convinced himself that ‘everything is fine’ indeed.

The next time he encounters Rey, Kylo is meditating in his quarters during his rest cycle. He is in no mood to talk to her and so is she but it seems like the Force is, well, forcing them to communicate. It’s despicable how she keeps holding on to the memory of Han Solo. She had clung to him like he were the father she never had. Pathetic. With the Force connecting them, Kylo could easily scan her thoughts, her memories. It is too easy to put two and two together – this scavenger was left by her parents in Jakku in a very young age, they abandoned her as though she were garbage – and so, she tries to have this emptiness, this loneliness filled by clinging to parental figures. Despite what her parents did to her, she kept needing them; looking for them everywhere – in Han Solo and now, in Luke Skywalker.

When he scanned her thoughts again, he discovers that Luke had already told her what happened the night he finally turned against him. He senses Rey’s growing doubt in Luke Skywalker. She is still denying to herself, still clinging to that hope that she could convince the old man to come with her to save the Resistance. He uses this to his advantage, telling Rey what happened that night in his point of view, thus, pulling at the thread of doubts and desperation she is feeling. He does not mention why Luke was hostile towards him, he paints himself as a victim – which he is, but he is not a completely innocent and frightened victim as he made himself to be in his story. Ben Solo was a victim to Luke’s unrealistic dreams, a victim of being something he never wanted to be in the first place – a good and pure Jedi who would live his life in peace and harmony, protecting the people who needed protection. _Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you were meant to be._

Doubt is a tumor in one’s mind and once it starts spreading, there is no stopping it from killing one’s sense of hope. It’s just too _easy_ to snuff out the light of hope inside people, it’s one of Kylo’s greatest talents obviously because he’s learned it from the best.

The seeds of doubt he planted inside her head had resulted in what Kylo had wanted – Rey despising Luke Skywalker and empathizing in Ben Solo, the young man Luke turned into Kylo Ren. Little did the naive girl know that Luke Skywalker did not create Kylo Ren but it was Kylo Ren himself who created him in the corpse of the Jedi padawan. The next time the Force connected them, Kylo sensed that she no longer has the patience for Luke Skywalker. Meanwhile, Rey, being the gullible fool that she is, started to open up to him; thinking that she could trust him, that he could be the one she would bring back to the Resistance and would help bring down the First Order. She thought of bringing back the estranged son of Leia Organa and help uplift the grieving woman she learned to look up to and respect. But when Rey reached out to him physically, when their fingers touched, he saw a vision – Rey by his side, ruling the galaxy with him; the Resistance and the First Order burnt to dust and people bowed down before them. It seems that there is darkness in her that he can exploit...

When their Force connection is finally disconnected, Kylo senses that Rey is dead-set on going to him and convincing him to join him. All of her hopes that Luke would be coming with her has been crushed and replaced by a new hope of bringing Ben Solo back to the Resistance.

He felt her coming and he was already on his way to the hangar even before he was alerted that an unidentified lifepod was heading their way. Kylo approved for its entry. As he had predicted, it was Rey. Kylo then proceeds to capture her then dragged her with him to Snoke’s throne room.

“You don’t have to do this.”

Rey turned to look at him as soon as they’re alone and away from the eyes and ears of the members of the First Order. “I feel the conflict in you. It's tearing you apart,” she said to him, “Ben, when we touched hands, I saw your future. Just the shape of it, but solid and clear. You will not bow before Snoke. You'll turn.”

Those were exactly the words he needed to hear. He’s got her where he wants her.

 

* * *

  

Hux has been out and about for the whole cycle...or cycles. He isn’t sure anymore.

He hasn’t had a proper rest, perhaps, the only time he spent not working was the few minutes of break he took in his quarters, drinking tarine tea which ended quickly when he was informed that the traitor, FN-2187, has returned and is onboard the Supremacy. Apparently, the fool had joined the Resistance and is trying to deactivating the tracker they had on the puny Resistance cruisers – or cruiser, only one cruiser was left. Phasma has him and a Resistance member captured. They were also informed by the companion of FN-2187 and the Resistance member that he overheard the plans of the Resistance to escape in unarmed transport and use the cruiser to distract the First Order. When Hux sees the Resistance scums on their knees. He relishes slapping FN-2187. Truthfully, Hux regarded FN-2187’s defection as a personal insult. He is the living proof that the Stormtrooper program that _he_ designed, modeled and improved after his father’s, is _flawed_. Fortunately, he does not have to see his face anymore once Phasma is done with him. The female Resistance member who came with him on the Supremacy was from the Otmok system and, of course, Hux could not help himself from mocking her and that resulted in her biting him. Hux storms off, rubbing his swollen hand as he walked back to the command bridge.

On his way, he was informed that that an unidentified lifepod had docked inside the Supremacy but Kylo Ren took care of it. Hux doubts that Kylo could be trusted with whatever that is but he is needed elsewhere and it’s too late for him to come running after Kylo since, as he was informed, Kylo had already stormed into the Supreme Leader’s throne room to present the prisoner: the scrawny scavenger who was strong in the Force who got away from Kylo back on Starkiller base.

Fortunately, Kylo has learned from his mistakes back at Starkiller base and is able to inform Hux but his information was a bit limited and lacking. Hux could only wonder why the girl had conveniently presented herself in a lifepod to their ship. To surrender? Maybe. Perhaps, Kylo is hiding something from him...that he and the girl had spoken with one another through some Force wizardry and formed a little alliance with one another to destroy the Fist Order. Maybe she’s the one he was talking to and not Snoke when Hux wandered around the ship as though he was pulled by an unseen force. Or perhaps, Hux’s exhausted mind is making him paranoid...

Hux reaches the command bridge, catching Yago and Peavey muttering with one another before giving him a curt nod to acknowledge his presence. Yago has followed through with Hux’s orders and they had started shooting at the Resistance transports being deployed from the larger vessel. Every explosion across the darkness brought him pleasure.

“Sir,” Captain Peavey says, “the Resistance cruiser's preparing to jump to lightspeed.”

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his hand as he clenched and unclenched his fists, Hux glanced at the viewport. Peavey, the old goat, easily got distracted by the pitiful attempt of distraction from the Resistance.

Hux smirks, “It's empty. They're just trying to pull our attention away. Pathetic. Keep your fire on the transports.”

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book – have the bigger ship or a loud and flamboyant comrade act as a distraction while others escape under the enemy’s nose. They must think he’s stupid. Or maybe the one driving the cruiser is about to jump into lightspeed in an attempt to escape, double-crossing their fellow Resistance rebels in order to survive. Hux wouldn’t blame them, the Resistance is doomed; in fact, he would be utterly impressed if they did leave their comrades behind. Now, that’s how one should play at war. War is a game of survival of the fittest and only the strongest and the slyest would survive. The weak ones, the gullible and innocent ones? They’re the ones who lose their lives first. Hux had never been the strongest in…anything – not in the Academy, not in the First Order, not even at home but he believes he is one of the slyest officers in the First Order.

 _Ben_.

Hux jolts, looking behind him. He sees Yago and Peavey staring at the holotank. They didn’t seem to notice his strange behavior. Someone just spoke Ben Solo’s name and the voice isn’t familiar at all. In fact, he knows he has never heard that voice before. It was a feminine, young and she sounded desperate. He’s going insane, isn’t he? He’s hearing things. Kylo was right. First he wandered around like he was sleepwalking looking for the source of the wet sound of water pouring heavily against a surface and now, he’s hearing an unfamiliar voice saying Kylo Ren’s old name! This isn’t a cause for panic just yet...

_You think you can turn him? Pathetic child. I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten. I see his mind, I see his every intent. Yes. I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true. And now, foolish child, he ignites it, and kills his true enemy!_

Hux gasps. Now, that voice he recognizes. It’s Supreme Leader Snoke’s. He’s talking to someone – Ren? Possibly. But why is he hearing this? Is this voice even real or is his mind just playing tricks on him?

Why – ?

“Sir!”

Hux snaps out of his delusions and quickly glances back at the viewport, to where Yago, whose face was as white as a freshly laundered sheet, is pointing at. The Resistance cruiser is facing their direction and it’s ready to jump to lightspeed!

“No!” Peavey gasps in horror, seeing the cruiser the same time; bumping his shoulder against the general’s as he staggers forward.

Hux, thrumming with panic, his stomach knotting in anxiety and fear, could not care less that a lower officer had just bumped his shoulders hard enough to push him away. Catching his footing, Hux shouts, almost stumbling on his own two feet due to the spike of dread, “Fire on that cruiser!”

 

* * *

 

 

Kylo stood in the middle of the ruins of his former master’s throne room, his eyes glued on the mangled corpses of the Praetorian guards; Snoke’s elite guards are no more…just like the creature they were supposed to protect. Supreme Leader Snoke underestimated him and that led to his downfall. Once he presented Rey like a little token to win back the old man’s trust and favour, Snoke, predictably, got heavily distracted by her which was what Kylo wanted all along. Snoke then proceeded to mock Rey; exposing the truth behind their Force bond – that it was he who created it (Kylo should have known that old fool wanted to use Kylo to lure Rey to them; unfortunately, Kylo has had enough of playing attack dog and servant). Silently and patiently, Kylo waited for the right moment to strike his former Master and once he got the opening he needed, he struck without hesitation; turning the lightsaber Snoke set beside him on; decapitating Snoke in  half in the process. He enjoyed watching the horror of the betrayal in Snoke’s eyes; relishing in it until those eyes that once watched every move he made turned dull and lifeless.

Here he is now, free from his tormentor who used to do nothing but manipulate him and it is time to take what is rightfully his.

“Ben.”

Kylo almost forgot that the scavenger is still here. What is he to do with her? She helped him get rid of Snoke and as much as he hated to admit it, they work well together. Kylo has no idea how much was Luke able to teach her but her skills with the lightsaber improved drastically since their last fight and also, it seems that she has achieved a balance with the Force inside her – a balance between the Light Side and the Dark Side. Sure, she is bursting with Light but when she fought, she had the ferocity and passion and aggression that was strengthened by the Dark Side of the Force.

Maybe, he could...

“The fleet. Order them to stop firing. There's still time to save the fleet.”

Her brown eyes were wild from the battle that they just participated in but not just that, her body is pumping adrenaline from her determination to save the Resistance – to save Leia and Finn and the others whose names she doesn’t know yet.

Kylo stared at her; hating how much he sees Luke Skywalker in her when his eyes fell to her face – that optimism she carried when she tried to convince him that he would turn back to the Light Side, that naivety when she looked up at him when he killed Snoke, that nobility and that disgusting ‘put others before oneself’ aura around her. And yet…he needs her. She’s powerful and in her, he has finally found an equal – someone who can rule by his side, someone worthy to stand by him. Of course, he knows he can’t rule the vast galaxy alone and he needs someone to rule it with him.

“It's time to let old things die,” Kylo mutters as he glances towards her direction. Immediately, he sees the horror in her eyes as he remains rooted in place; refusing to move and do as she asks of him, “Snoke, Skywalker, the Sith, the Jedi, the Rebels. Let it all die. Rey, I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy.”

Tears started to gather in Rey’s eyes. She must be sensing it, that he can’t be turned. “Don't do this, Ben. Please don't go this way.” She whispered.

“No, no. You're still holding on! Let go!”

_Ben. Ben. Ben._

He hates that she keeps using that name to speak to him. He isn’t Ben Solo. Not anymore. Perhaps, not ever. Ben Solo is nothing but a boy built with unrealistic expectations of the heroes that destroyed the old empire. He was never his own person.

Even now, she expects Kylo Ren to be Ben Solo, a man who was once a villain, who was once a leader of the First Order but would end up choosing to go down the road of heroism and redemption. Kylo sees right through her too; calling him by that name as if she can pull Ben karking Solo out of Kylo Ren. It’s pathetic. If she chooses to join him, he would have to teach her to never utter that kriffing name ever again.

Rey shook her head and tears began falling from her eyes; smoothly gliding against her cheeks.

“Do you want to know the truth about your parents? Or have you always known and you've just hidden it away?” Kylo said, furiously, more enraged by her pitiful tears than anything else, “You know the truth. Say it.”

Through the damned connection Snoke forged between them, he saw Rey’s memories from when she was a mere child – about six to eight years of age. He saw a little girl clinging at the legs of a woman while she spoke to a grotesque, voluptuous alien; saw her being dragged away from the couple while she cried and begged that they come back. They didn’t come back.

Kylo has no idea where this desire of hers to know who her parents had come from. Back on Starkiller, when he invaded her mind, there was no trace of it, just a desire to be with the family that left her in that worthless planet, a desire to know why they left her as well as the joy of finding a fatherly figure in Han Solo who offered her a job, who admired her skills and knowledge, who made her feel as though she weren’t unwanted – a joy Kylo crushed.

“Say it.”

“They’re nobody,” Rey sobs.

The couple who were with her in her memories were filthy junk traders who sold the little girl off for drinking money. Rey did not come from anywhere special, she was perhaps, an unwanted child of poor, lowly people. Her parents are now buried somewhere in the graves of paupers in Jakku.

“You have no place in this story,” he tries his hardest to speak in a gentle and calm tone, contrary to the harsh words he is uttering. He must play his cards right. Even if the girl is already exhausted from her arguments with Luke Skywalker, from the mental torture Snoke had put her through, from the fight with the guards, Kylo can still feel that annoyingly bright hope in her, even if it were just a slight glimmer, it’s still present. Kylo has to extinguish that. “You come from nothing. You're nothing...but not to me. Join me. Please,” Kylo extends his arm out; offering his hand to her, offering the chance to rule the galaxy with him.

Rey continues to weep, her eyes staring on his countenance and not daring to look at the gloved hand he was offering to her. He could feel her disgust, her hatred rolling deep inside her. She…doesn’t want the galaxy. Her disappointed towards him is the strongest emotion she feels towards him, along with disgust and hatred. She’s hurt from the fact that she failed to save bring Luke Skywalker, to turn Kylo Ren back to the Light. She feels absolutely used. She understands that he killed Snoke for his own personal gain and she is nothing but a distraction to keep the withering old man from knowing Kylo’s true intentions, and now, he wants to use her for her powers and his offer to rule the galaxy together is nothing but pretence. She is thinking of the ex-stormtrooper again as Kylo hears his own gruff voice echoing inside her head telling her over and over that she’s nothing – _Finn looked at me like no one ever had. I am not nothing._

Her thoughts are answers enough for Kylo. She wouldn’t accept his offer. He has misread and miscalculated her reaction to his words. He thought that his words would be enough to break her, that it is the final push needed for her to plunge into the Dark Side. Before Kylo could withdraw his arm, she raises hers; shocking him. But Rey wasn’t reaching for his hand – she was reaching for Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. Kylo quickly reached out for the lightsaber with the Force; countering Rey’s Force pull with his own. Both of them were taken aback, their feet skidding across the smooth floor as the force of their clashing powers collided. Their powers are evenly matched; causing the lightsaber to hover in the air, trembling like a leaf caught in a storm while they continued pulling at opposite directions. 

Kylo grunted; exerting more effort, and Rey does the same. Not one of them wanting to back down.

_No, no, no, no...I can’t die like this. Not now. Not yet!_

He hears a voice, a voice he knows he should recognize but couldn’t at the time because he is too distracted and too overwhelmed that his brain became foggy and he couldn’t think straight. The air around them howled and spiralled and – Kylo’s shoulder jerked and tensed; something exploded and the whole room shook violently.

Kylo is blinded by a bright flash of light in front of him. He was thrown back by a burst of their opposing powers that bounced around in random directions, knocking him unconscious.

 

* * *

 

 

Despite their attempt to destroy the cruiser that headed towards their direction, they failed from stopping it from crashing into the one-third of the Supremacy. Heart pounding, adrenaline pumping through his body and head spinning, Hux rushed to the Supreme Leader’s throne room; running as fast as his shaking legs could go. Just like in Starkiller base. Some officers, like Yago and Peavey, had fallen unconscious from the crash, probably most of them suffering from a concussion. He passed by some people who were in shock, people who were in an apparent state of panic, who were awfully injured and bleeding. Nobody seem to notice him as he passed them by. Finally, he reaches the turbolift that would lead him to his destination. Hux gets in before leaning against the wall; panting and desperately trying to keep his legs from giving out beneath him. His nerves are getting the best of him. His stomach is flipping, the speed of his heart is not coming back to normal as well as his breathing. He’s failed again. And unlike in Starkiller, he’s lost more people under his command, lost most of their Star Destroyers and failed to keep the damn Supremacy in one piece. He doesn’t know what to do, he needs the Supreme Leader’s guidance and yet he’s terribly afraid of the consequences of yet again, another failure. He clenches and unclenches his hands; taking deep breaths as the turbolift comes closer and closer to the throne room.

The turbolift opens and Hux is immediately filled with shock and he was welcomed by the smell of smoke, blood and charred, burnt flesh; intensifying the feeling of sickness Hux is already feeling. He moved out of the turbolift, cautiously making his way towards Snoke’s throne. The throne room was completely ravaged. The Supreme Leader’s personal guards had been defeated. The Supreme Leader’s escape craft is gone. And –

Hux staggers backward.

Sitting on the throne is the severed body of Snoke and by his feet was the other half of his body which consisted of his head and his upper torso. Snoke’s lifeless eyes were staring at him, his tongue out. He’s dead!

Hux turns around and finally spots Kylo Ren, unconscious, lying face first on the floor. However, the scavenger who Kylo must have brought in the room with him is nowhere at sight. There isn’t a hint of blood or any wounds on him. The mighty Kylo Ren just lying there, vulnerable...just like when he had been on the snowy covered ground after being bested by the scavenger girl; that time where he was given a chance to end Kylo Ren’s existence and the only thing that stopped him from ending his life there was the stormtroopers that could act as witnesses and Snoke and now…

Slowly, he reached for his blaster.

With Snoke gone, only Kylo Ren is standing in the way for his succession as the Supreme Leader and here he is, so close to ending the life of this Force user and yet why is he hesitating? When the bastard who has a hold on his collar is no more, what is stopping him? Hux’s hold on the blaster’s grip tightened but he made no effort to pull it out of its holster.

 _How predictable. You karked everything up so easily and you find it extremely difficult to eliminate your unconscious rival, Armitage._ The ghost of his father said to him. There it is again – that condescending and insulting way he spat his name. _Why can’t you do it? Because you think he can be of use to you? Because you can’t kill a helpless creature? Or is it because you simply want his cock up your arse, you stupid slut?_

A resounding gasp overpowers the voice in his head.

Kylo has woken up; scrambling to push himself from the floor.

Hux quickly removes his hand from the blaster and instead pretends that he was scratching his thigh in time with Kylo raising his head towards him.

“What happened?” Hux asks him. He wishes that the sound of concern in his voice was purely manufactured.

“The girl murdered Snoke.” Kylo muttered. Hux found that hard to believe. Despite being able to defeat Kylo before, she could not have had killed Snoke, who was far more powerful than Kylo is, and defeated all of his guards and Kylo alone; no matter how much Jedi mumbo-jumbo training she received before coming to the Supremacy. And why would she even leave Kylo alive and unscathed? Kylo is lying between clenched teeth…it was too obvious. But it is not time for Hux to accuse Kylo of lying and of murder and treason just yet.

Kylo blinked several times before finally getting back to his feet. He winced as soon as he did; his legs wobbling and he staggered a few steps back before asking, “What happened?”

“The Resistance cruiser crashed into us as it jumped into lightspeed while the others escaped to an inhibited salt planet. It must be their new base.” Hux answered, “I believe that the girl must have taken Snoke’s escape craft to go there and regroup.”

“We know where she's going. Get all our forces down to that Resistance base. Let's finish this.”

Without looking at him, Kylo turned and walked away; expecting him to come after him like a good little pup. Hux refused to move; glaring daggers at Kylo. This fool. Why does he expect him to be in control of Hux? They are equals – co-commanders. He’s had had enough of these Force users acting like he was nothing but a loyal puppy, like he was a mere cowering disposable underling that they can boss around. He is a General and he should be treated with equal respect.

“Finish this?” Hux parroted, squinting his eyes hatefully at Kylo kriffing Ren. As expected from the son of a princess who was born into power, he must feel entitled to have control over anything and anyone but Hux has to wake him up from these delusions. He certainly does not have control over him. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” His voice is trembling, “You presume to command my army? Our Supreme Leader is dead! Ren, we have no ruler – !”

Suddenly, an unseen presence tightened around his throat, drowning the sound of his shouts into the pathetic sounds of him choking. Hux watched in horror as Kylo turned around, one arm outstretched at his direction, his face contorted into an ugly scowl full of hate; his eyes looked darker and wilder than they usually were – he looked insane! “The Supreme Leader is dead!” Kylo spat; lower lip trembling. Hux’s legs gave in beneath him as his hands darted up towards his neck. Nothing was there and yet he could feel his throat seeming to close itself from the inside; cutting off his oxygen supply. Snoke had frequently choked him into silence before but never like this. Snoke had made sure to apply the pressure from the outside, making sure to mark him, to bruise him but never intending to kill him. Kylo, on the other hand, is prepared to choke him to death. Hux’s strongest weapon had always been his words but he could barely get any intelligent sounds out to try to convince Kylo not to kill him. Kylo did not tet up and Hux became more and more frightened, helpless and desperate; tears spilling from his bulging eyes as he stammered out incoherent words that were more like noises than words, until finally, he was able to say something coherent, “Long live the Supreme Leader.”

Hux looked at Ren, hoping to have appeased him and begging that he stop but his throat was continued to be constricted, he was continued to be robbed off of oxygen but as Kylo returned his gaze, the insane, hateful look in his eyes disappeared and was replaced by confusion. And when Hux made another attempt to take a deep breath, he felt air coming in his lungs; his throat has been released! He fell on his hands as he took more greedy inhales in, not caring how it hurt his lungs, his chest. Every breath he took felt like a knife plunging in his chest…but he didn’t mind the pain, he didn’t mind anything but the relief of having been able to breathe again.

He coughed and sputtered while the tears he tried to keep from spilling finally fell. He could hear Kylo approaching him. The anxiety and fear knotting his empty stomach since the Resistance ship crashed into the Supremacy finally overcame him, causing him to throw up the contents of his stomach – something that consisted of bile and saliva and whatever little food he last ate. He retched pathetically while Kylo stood before him; looking down on him and perhaps, marvelling at this moment – this moment when the General has finally bowed before him.

“You…” Kylo’s voice is trembling. Strange. He did not sound too happy, doesn’t sound as triumphant as Hux expected him to be but instead, sounded confused and angry and bitter. Perhaps, this is the moment where he would take his hideous lightsaber out, turn it on and sever his head clean from his neck.

“You and Snoke…he must have…just like…” Kylo spoke beneath his breath; making it more difficult for Hux to understand him since his ears continued to be deafened by the loud beating of his heart.

Hux looks up at him; knowing how stupid and weak and pitiful he looks in his eyes with the snot running from his nose, tears in his eyes and staining his cheeks, and drool and vomit on his mouth and on his chin.

“Stand up,” Kylo grabs his elbow, yanking him up to his feet. “I said: let’s finish this.”

Hux wipes his mouth with the back of his gloved hand before wiping his wet face with the sleeve of his great coat. He’s confused that Kylo had spared his life when he was so eager to end it when he was choking him. Perhaps, Kylo has realized that he is useful. Or the most plausible case is that Kylo only spared him so he can make his life a living hell. Taking a shuddering sigh, he forced himself to nod and answer Kylo even when his throat hurt like hell, “Yes, Supreme Leader.”

Whatever reason Kylo has for sparing his life, Hux is confident that he will persist and endure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say hi on [tumblr](https://mademoisellebianx.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> I hope my thirstiness with the TIE Silencer isn't too obvious mehehehe......


	3. The Slip that Brought Him to His Knees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Kylo discovered in Snoke's throne room left him angrier and more hateful than he already was after Rey's rejection, and has Hux vulnerable and confused. Cornered between choosing fight or flight as the world around them is consumed by fire, Kylo chooses fight and Hux chooses flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone, thank you so much for your patience. I must admit, I had a very difficult time writing this but at last, I was able to finally finish it!  
> Thank you so much for all your love and support for this fanfic. I really appreciate it and I am looking forward to FINALLY get to the good stuff a.k.a the parts where I don't have to base on TLJ hooray.  
> Again, still unbeta'd but hopefully, soon I can finally have the courage to ask someone to beta for me.

_‘Nobody is going to stop me from killing him...’_

Bright spots dances around Kylo’s eyes as soon as he opens them when he finally regains consciousness. He jerks his head up; sensing a presence looming above him. At first, he expected to see Rey standing over him, lightsaber in hand and preparing to kill him with one killing strike, but it turns out that he’s wrong and that it’s only the obnoxious General Hux. The man is most probably there in the throne room to seek the counsel of their Supreme Leader but was left alarmed and scared to discover what had happened to Snoke.

Kylo saw Hux’s hand brush over the blaster on the side of his hip when he looked up and – stars, his mind is so damn loud – Hux was in the middle of thinking of killing him again and this time, there are no stormtroopers that could act as witnesses and since the Supreme Leader is sliced in half and, well, dead, there’s no one who has the authority over him to stop him from killing Kylo Ren, but even with the certainty of finally ending the life of their rival without any consequence, Hux still hesitated.

Seeing Kylo stir, Hux pretends that he is merely scratching his thigh instead of reaching for his blaster and asks him what happened with an apparently contrived concerned voice – even with the ringing in Kylo’s ears, he didn’t miss it. Even without using the Force, Kylo can easily read the General at times.

Kylo stands from the floor, immediately trying to hide the pain and dizziness that almost overcame him as he gets to his feet. His head is pounding.

“The girl killed Snoke.” is probably the stupidest lie he could have told Hux about Snoke’s death, but although he could have pondered longer for a better alibi, he could not care less if Hux believes him or not. And, of course, Hux didn’t believe him but he is wise enough to let it slide for now. Time wasn’t on their side and Hux isn’t stupid enough to waste it by pointing fingers, accusing Kylo of a crime without any evidence to back his accusations up.

According to Hux, Rey has left. Kylo doesn’t know why she left him alive but he will make sure that she’ll pay for her naivety as well as for the pain of rejection she made him experience. As if he has not had enough of that. “We know where she's going. Get all our forces down to that Resistance base. Let's finish this.”

“ _Finish this_?” Hux spat furiously, mocking Kylo’s words. He doesn’t seem to have any plans on following Kylo’s orders and still has the audacity to raise his voice at him even after his failure to finally destroy the Resistance when they were so, so close. The Supremacy is on its last legs because obviously General Armitage Hux could not command a damn crew. He’s a miscast tinkerer masquerading as a general obviously placed in such a high position of power by Snoke because he has weaknesses he can exploit. Hux may be a genius engineer and weapon designer and a good First Order mouthpiece with that damn loud but annoyingly articulate mouth of his but he is no leader. All he is ever good at and will ever be good at is creating objects of mass destruction and chaos and making and delivering speeches...which he is doing right now as Hux continues to squawk; screaming hysterically now about Supreme Leader Snoke’s death.

Kylo stops dead on his tracks. The pounding in his head along with the ringing in his ears and the humiliation from Rey’s rejection of his offer to rule the galaxy with him had turned his thoughts into a jumbled, hazy mess and the last thing he needs right now is Hux screaming at him. All Kylo wants is for him to shut the fuck up. Is it too much to ask for Hux to keep that damn mouth close to stop that grating voice with that posh, condescending Imperial accent from coming out?

Pivoting his body, he raises an arm towards the stammering General whose scowling face has turned beet red with rage as his fists, which were just dangling on both sides of his body, trembling. He looked like an extremely upset toddler. Who’s the man-child now?

Kylo sends the Force at him; feeling the hatred and darkness surging from him ans he watches as Hux gasps from shock first as he feels the oppressing feeling of Kylo’s power before he felt it lunging at his throat. His whole body spasming while his hands dart towards his neck, desperately trying find the non-existent hands that is stopping him from breathing but there were no hands there and Kylo wasn’t squeezing his neck at all. It’s not something superficial and simple like that. He concentrated the Force inside Hux’s neck; cutting off the oxygen from entering his lungs.

The fear in Hux’s eyes as he falls on his knees is exquisite. Kylo had longed for so long to see this very expression on the high and mighty General’s face; he had long to see this fear, this desperation and helplessness in him and for him to finally realize that he is completely powerless compared to Kylo – that Kylo Ren is much more superior than him in anything and everything. The end of Snoke’s life marks the end of his coddling of the arrogant General. Hux is beneath him. Had always been. He had allowed Hux play the role of his equal for so long and it’s about time that he learns his place.

_‘You will serve under me.’_

Hux’s face turns blue, the blood vessels in his eyes bursting while tears begin to well up his bloodshot eyes, “Ren, p-p-please...”

 _Nobody is stop_ _ping me from killing_ _him._ Kylo smirked. He could crush Hux like the insect that he is if he wants to. Meaning to smother the general, to finally end his pathetic and miserable existence, Kylo endeavors to crush his throat. He summons more of the Force at the General who is already gasping so hard for air that s, meaning to end his life there and then. But something stopped him – something like the sound of a loud scream, the high-pitched wails of an alarm, the distinct sound of transparisteel shattering upon impact – and it made his blood run cold. The Force is telling him to... _stop_?

Kylo gasps; feeling a sharp pain in his head akin to the cold blade of a dagger being pierced deep into his skull, it made him wince, almost made him lose his Force grip around Hux’s throat and he hears a scream from afar then the same voice spoke, begging, _“_ _Supreme Leader, please –_ _”_

_“Silence! Learn your place, Armitage._ _”_

Kylo opens his eyes and sees Snoke looming before him, a hateful glare in his eyes as he stepped closer towards him. This isn’t the Snoke that he had cut in half with his grandfather’s lightsaber; no, what he is seeing is a hologram of Snoke and this is but a mere vision. Supreme Leader Snoke is already dead. And he is no longer in the throne room in the Supremacy but he’s back to the Finalizer, in the chamber where Snoke summons them in the past and – This is someone else’s memories. Kylo could see it clearly playing out before his very eyes as though it were a holofilm.

There he was, alone in the middle of the chamber which was similar to that It’s dark but not enough to render one temporarily blind; the room’s only light source was the one illuminating the platform where Snoke’s holo appears.

In the middle of the room, Kylo sees the General. Hux was in his usual dark grey uniform but without his greatcoat and his hat; nothing to hide his thin frame. He looked smaller than he already is with him bowing before the over-sized projection of Snoke who loomed over him. Hux had his hands over his head, perhaps, trying to stop it from pounding or to protect it from Snoke’s torturous punishment as if that could help with anything.

Kylo watches in horror as Snoke extended his arm and used the Force to yank the General up from the floor from where he knelt, eliciting another scream from the redhead. Snoke made him levitate in the air like he were a puppet dangling from a single string, only Hux’s body seemed rigid to be compared to a lifeless and limp wooden puppet. His neck was craned up; exposing the skin that was usually covered by his collar as his screams quiets into sputtered and chocked groans. It looked like something was pulling his head up...or he looked like he was actually dangling in the air by his neck. Purple spots began to appear on his neck.

 _“You’re nothing. You may be the General of the First Order but you are nothing but a little insect to me and you will do as I say and never do anything I did not tell you to do. You underestimate the Force and you will learn, Armitage, that this folly and arrogance of yours will cost you dearly_ _.”_ Snoke relaxed his arm and Hux fell hard from his Force hold with a thud. He panted for breath, sniffling – was he crying then?

A creeping fear grips Kylo but it isn’t a fear that he feels, it isn’t a fear that he had felt. It’s Hux’s.

_“Look at you, panting like a dog. Let’s see if you’re as loyal as one._ _”_

Hux looked up, his eyes watering and pinkish. His shoulders quivered as they rose and fell while he panted for breath. A thin film of sweat covered his face. He was in the verge of tears. _“…I am loyal,_ _Supreme Leader.”_ He answered...he lied.

_‘I am loyal to the First Order, but not you_ _, you old bastard.’_

_“General Hux._ _”_

Now, Kylo’s vision brings him at the Finalizer’s command bridge. Humiliation burned inside him, cursing the name of Poe Dameron (hearing that name brought very unpleasant memories inside Kylo) and Hux also thought of his...his mother. Hux was on his way out of the bridge, wanting to escape Snoke, wanting to escape the judgment of his men but Snoke blocked his way. It was almost comical to Kylo how Snoke slammed Hux’s body against the sleek runway but hearing Hux’s thoughts in the aftermath stopped him. Hux squirmed and tried to push himself back to his feet but Snoke didn’t allow him. People were watching and no one tried to help him. Just like in the Academy...people watched, they only watched and judged and whispered but they never did anything to intervene and Hux hated it, he hated them, he hated Snoke and most of all, he hated himself for allowing this to happen, for allowing people to continue to treat him that way even when he is in a high place of power –

Kylo feels his head snapping to the side as though he was slapped – he _is_ backhanded. No, not him but...in his vision, he sees a red-haired young man in his early twenty’s getting slapped by an older man with the same damn red hair and he could feel the sharp sting of the slap which the young man must have felt then. The redhead staggered backward at the force of the slap and Kylo tasted blood in his own mouth. Disgusting. But the feeling of helplessness that crept in Kylo was more disgusting...

_“You’re a disgrace!_ _”_

_“My apologies, Father._ _..”_ The young man’s voice cracked in the middle of his sentence. He was trying his hardest not to weep; biting at his already swollen, bleeding lip to stop himself from making a sound.

_‘Useless. I’m useless. Father_ _was right. He’s always right. Look at them, not wanting to get involved with me. Perhaps, it’s the right decision. They’re smart enough to stay away from General Hux. Look what happened to Clonele when he got too close, Armitage. No one is going to stand by my side. I am alone. I’ll be alone forever and forever tormented by people more powerful, stronger, bigger, wiser than I will ever be and I will always be too weak, too useless and too stupid to fight them off. I...I..._ _’_

_“You wonder why I keep a rabid cur in such a place of power?_ _”_

The foreign feeling of fear and helplessness that grasped Kylo was then replaced by a feeling of bitterness, hatred and jealousy that crashed against him like a billowing wave. To Snoke – no, Snoke implied back there that it wad Kylo who thought that of him even though Kylo does not think of him as that – Hux is nothing but an aggressive little mutt. Kylo is not sure if

The sharp stabbing sensation is back again, this time it was more intense. The Force is screaming that he stop and it is not just screaming but also begging him to, using the visions to stop him from taking the life of some lowly General.

But why?

General Hux is of no importance. The war would continue on without him and the First Order will remain even without him. His role in this story is to be the insignificant fool who would dare challenge him from the Supreme Leader’s throne and now, he has fulfilled his role, has he not? If so, why is the Force demanding that Kylo not kill him?

Kylo sees himself as he stood in the middle of the empty hallway after he was connected to Rey by the Force bond and she asked him about Han Solo and why he hated him. Hux called out to him then and Kylo looked up from his fist to look at him. He was in his quarters, thinking about the rain in his homeplanet and how the sound of it had once relaxed him as a kid but then he gets distracted when he heard the same sound get louder as he approached the spot where Kylo was but he couldn’t see the source of the sounds. He then sees a little boy running out of an empty mansion, laughing as he outruns a nanny droid and escape its clutch. The boy had soft red hair, pale skin dotted with a few freckles and he is skinny, almost bird-like in frame. He was ecstatic as he finally gets out of the house, looking as though he were a man who just got out of prison, but outside was such a dreary place; it was raining, dark and utterly ugly. Kylo couldn’t understand why the boy was so happy as he giggled and danced, raising his tiny arms towards the sky as rain poured unto his body; dampening his whole small stature but his happiness was cut short at sight of cruiser’s arrival. The design of it was...something that is Imperial. The light of the cruiser blinding the boy and –

_‘Ren..._ _’_

Starkiller. Kylo lied on the snow broken, defeated; teetering through a fine line of succumbing to unconsciousness and staying awake to haul himself up from the damn snow. Kylo remembers how he tried to collect himself then, to pick up the scattered pieces of what was left of his pride. The last thing he saw before he finally lost consciousness there was the fucking bright red hair of General Armitage Hux. Now Kylo watches as Hux reached his unconscious body, he watches for the man’s face and he looked...taken aback, seeing that the mighty Kylo Ren has fallen but then predictably so, his expression changed as the corners of his lips quirk up in an amused smirk and his hand made its way towards his blaster but he stopped himself. The ground shook and Hux stumbled down but acted as though he had went down on his knees to haul Kylo up.

 _“What are you doing just standing there_ _, you bantha shits? Help me carry_ _him!”_ Hux shouted at the stormtroopers as he grabbed for Kylo, the slightest contact with him sending electricity in his spine. Something was telling him then that he was being reunited, he was being reintroduced to someone significant...someone who felt like he knew since forever. The feeling was almost brilliant and yet Hux couldn’t describe it, he didn’t understand it. Quickly, he pushed those strange feelings and thoughts out of his mind as the stormtroopers carried Kylo off the snow –

“Long live the Supreme Leader.”

Kylo abruptly withdraws the Force from Hux; moving it away like he would an arm withdrawing away a heat source that has his fingers burned. The force of it sent Hux falling on his hands and knees, retching and taking up large shaking gulps of air. This man...

Snoke had mentioned how pleased he was with Hux back then. He mentioned something about having something, or someone, being ‘tied at the end of a string’. Kylo thought that he was talking about the Resistance then but what if...?

“You...” Kylo growled; keeping his eyes on the General bowing in front of him. In another circumstance, Kylo would have mocked and spat at this pathetic display in front of him but he was too distracted by what he had just seen and what had just happened with him and the Force. “You and Snoke...he did this...he must have formed a bond between us, just like what he did with the girl and I...”

This doesn’t make any sense. Why would Snoke create a bond between his two esteemed protégées? What for? To manipulate Kylo further by making him sympathize with someone who is a cold-hearted and emotionlessly droid-like man? Did he think that Kylo would give a damn about Hux? Does Hux know about this? It’s unlikely. It’s possible that Hux doesn’t know this. The fool has zero knowledge about the Force and now meeting his teary green eyes looking up at him, he looked just as clueless as ever. It is possible that Snoke meant then that he has them tied at the end of a string no matter how kriffing dead he is. Perhaps, Kylo is looking at this in the wrong angle. He really should not be too upset and angry. He could use this Force bond just as he did with that damned bitch. Although Hux would not be as useful as a strong Force user like Rey, he could be a useful underling but a rather dangerous one to keep an unlike Rey, the man would be easier to control since he has no access of the Force. But Snoke had informed Kylo of Hux’s disloyalty in the past and Kylo just has to wonder if he will be a subordinate worth keeping? Well, Kylo just has to see. Is this a gamble he is willing to make? Yes. A leader is nothing without a subordinate, a follower...even if said follower would be a man who would constantly await for the right opportunity to stab him in the back.

“Stand up.”

Hux looked up at Kylo when he snapped at him but makes no intention of following his...apparently his first order as Supreme Leader and so, Kylo begrudgingly grabs him by the elbow and manhandles him to stand on his feet and is taken aback by how light the General weights. “I said: let’s finish this!” Kylo barked, trying to suppress what little concern for the General that managed to creep from within him. Once he touched Hux, his palm, his fingers tingled with a sensation similar to a subtle jolt of electricity; with that, shooting Kylo with a strong wave of Hux’s disgust, self-pity, fear and hatred that shocks the Force user. If Hux felt the same thing due to their possible Force connection, he did not give any indication that that were the case.

“Yes, Supreme Leader.”

“Follow me.” Kylo said, not even giving the General a glance above his shoulder as Hux wipes at his mouth and tries his best to collect himself before walking behind Kylo. He did not dare match Kylo’s pace. Good. He now knows his place. They got into the surprisingly still functional turbolift and Hux is oddly quiet by his side; well, not _oddly_ though because Kylo did choke him with the Force to the brink of death. His breathing is loud, erratic and he seems to be clenching and unclenching his fists from behind him; the leather of it squeaking with every movement made. Hux made sure to keep a distance from the new Supreme Leader, made sure not to look at him.

“General Hux.” Kylo ignored the slight jolt of Hux’s shoulders. Hux glanced at him, pale face without any trace of emotion...except...his eyes were glossed over with fear. “Once we have gathered our forces, you will come with me in the assault on that blasted planet, understood?”

“I understand.”

Although Kylo would have preferred to lead their army against the Resistance alone, he could not risk not keeping General Hux out of his sight. He’s a predictable man and as soon as Kylo makes the fatal mistake of giving him the opportunity to pull out a treacherous stunt, he would fucking take it without hesitation. He would have to keep him at close proximity, would have to keep an eye on him. Hux is completely compliant for now, like a kicked mutt whimpering and licking at its wounds but who knows when this playing whole act would end but Kylo is damn sure that it’ll end. Loyalty in war is a fickle thing. Kylo knows this to be true since he did betray his master to steal the throne from him.

 

* * *

 

Hux’s body is on autopilot; running mainly on adrenaline as he goes to the command bridge and instructed all forces to follow the escape crafts. The man he crowned as the new Supreme Leader to the abandoned salt planet called Crait. Kylo stayed by his side while Hux walked about and barked at the officers to hurry up and ready all their TIE fighters, their AT-AT’s, their AT-M6’s, their Upsilon-type command shuttle and lastly, the superlaser siege cannon he himself had engineered. If he has a choice, he wouldn’t be squawking about and barking orders because his throat hurt like hell but he has to and after all, it’s his job to be barking orders. He keeps trying to dismiss his thoughts about the past few events that unfolded because he couldn’t let Kylo overhear his thoughts again like last time because apparently, his thoughts ‘are too loud’. The alarms blared and they only made his headache worse. He couldn’t quite decide if the alarms going off, the alarms that deafened him the most are the ones inside his head or the ones from the hallways of the Stardestroyer he roamed.

Everything is happening so fast...and he could barely keep up. He was usually quick to adapt but having no sleep for the past cycles, barely being able to eat anything and after being choked with the Force had affected his ability to think straight. A proof to that is him conceding to Kylo’s intimidation and proclaiming him as the new Supreme Leader. Did Kylo even mean for him to call him the Supreme Leader? Or was it entirely just Hux projecting his own desires and giving it to Kylo before he kills him? No. Of course Kylo wanted the throne as much as he did. They had been fighting over it for so long, Kylo merely disguised it with supposed loyalty to Snoke. He wanted the throne...Hux felt it in the way he made his throat cave in on itself and he saw it in the decapitated corpses in the throne room.

His body is still on autopilot as Kylo drags him with him in the command shuttle. He doesn’t want him anywhere away from him. Obviously, he doesn’t trust him. Kylo Ren’s presence is darker and heavier and more powerful than before, darkness seems to be seeping through every particle of his body and he’s right there only a few meters away from him; it’s suffocating yet rather tantalizing, making Hux shudder. Perhaps, this is the effect of his (possibly and most likely) murder of the former Supreme Leader. Although the General is simply theorizing, of course. His dark oppressive aura is somehow...drawing him closer, beckoning for him like a beacon, no, not a beacon – like a flame to a moth, destructive and dangerous.

They break through the planet’s atmosphere. Hux kept his eyes on the viewport, staring at...white. It’s been a while since he’s last been on another planet. He’s always been on the Finalizer or other ships and he could not help himself from admiring the sight. It’s almost beautiful.  As far as his eyes can see, it’s all white even the mountains, except for the blue horizon and a wide, tall rusty-looking gate. “There.” He mutters, quietly as he points towards it. That’s the only place in this dreary planet where the members of the Resistance could hide. The Resistance had scurried inside an abandoned rebel base, completely trapped. In a different time, with the Resistance cornered like this, he would have been so extremely ecstatic – although he still is feeling thrilled but not in the way he expected to feel. His thoughts were disrupted when he spots something tainting the whiteness he found somehow soothing. “Thirteen incoming light craft.” Hux said; eyeing the small (rather pathetic), primitive ski speeders and each of them grazed at the smooth, white surface of the land, drawing out red. He glanced at Kylo whose face was impassive, his eyes glued on the same spot Hux had been staring at before he turned to look at him. “Shall we hold until we clear them?” He asks, keeping his voice soft, calm and cautious. Kylo is an unpredictable monster of a man – he’s always been like that since meeting him, Hux knows – and one Hux learned he can never control.

“No.” Kylo snapped in response, “The Resistance is in that mine. Push through.”

Hux turns back towards the viewport, keeping his eyes on the red lines heading towards their directions. “You heard the man.” He said, talking more to himself than the other officers there. He could feel Peavey’s eyes on him. The older man must be wondering why he isn’t arguing with the Force user like he usually did. They don’t usually agree when it comes to strategy and, yes, Hux does not agree with this brash order made by Kylo; if it were up to him, he would have those pitiful things he refused to call as crafts  destroyed first by their TIE fighters before they can move forward.

But he isn’t Supreme Leader, is he?

Hux bit his lower lip; closing his hands into fist, only to stop himself short because of the sharp pain that shot right through him. He clicked his tongue, hating himself; hating Poe Dameron and FN-2187 and that damned bitch from the Otmok system for making him hurt himself. At the corner of his eye, he saw Kylo’s jaw tighten, saw one of his hand clench and unclench, fingers twitching. Hux couldn’t see who were piloting those things but he wished, oh, he wished that even just one of those fools are there – if Phasma still hasn’t killed FN-2187 and the wench. Maybe he could just imagine that every single explosion, every red he saw meant one of those wretched creatures had possibly died.

He shouldn’t, however, screw around and piss Kylo Ren off. Hux isn’t dumb and he knows his life, his position as General is in Kylo’s hands right now and he must prove to him that he deserves to live, that he deserves this power Snoke has entrusted him with.

“General H–” Kylo paused before completely addressing him. He jolted. His once impassive face turned into an ugly scowl; nose wrinkling, mouth curled to expose gritted teeth. He lunges forward; feet heavy against the floor, the dark, oppressing aura he had been emitting had been more intense. Hux was hit with that hateful Aura like a punch in the gut. “Blow that piece of junk out of the sky!” The now-Supreme Leader shouted; pointing furiously towards the light blue sky.

“All fighters!” Hux commands, not thinking twice to give that order but instantly regretted it when Kylo shot him a glare, spitting with rage, “You fucking fool! You drew them away from the speeders! That’s their kriffing plan!”

“We have several artillery to keep the speeders at bay.” Hux explained; swallowing the lump in his throat and trying to keep himself calm even when he’s at the verge of panicking. He was too eager to be on Kylo’s good side that he gave out the command he thought Kylo would be pleased with, knowing that the man would every single fighter they have to chase after his late father’s ship but it seems he was mistaken with what Kylo actually wanted. He ignored the pain in his hand as he clenched his fists; digging gloved fingers against his palm. “Only our fighters can reach that freighter and shoot it down...Sir. I have utmost fate in our pilots –”

“Ah, just like your utmost fate in the capabilities and loyalty of your soldiers, right, General? The ones who couldn’t get the map to Skywalker and the one who betrayed us and has joined our enemy?”

It’s unfair how easily Kylo is able to stab Hux with an invisible knife and twist it without hesitation. He reminds himself that Kylo is now his superior officer and bites the inside of his cheek to himself from talking back at Kylo. There isn’t anything he could say. He couldn’t mumble some dumb excuse, that’ll be a show of _weakness._ The Stormtrooper program isn’t perfect as he thought it to be despite all the research he made and despite having something to base it on, he knows that, and he takes full responsibility of FN-2187...

“Sir.” Peavey said, clearing his throat. Hux doesn’t know who he was addressing. “The freighter has destroyed all our fighters.”

“Well.” Kylo huffed, he did not even regard the older man as he eyed Hux accusingly. As if it were only his fault that all their TIEs were destroyed. The fool didn’t even try to bark for the command to be ignored once Hux gave it so they’re both equally guilty of being at fault! “Any more bright ideas, General Hux?” Kylo sneered, hatefully and sarcastically. Perhaps, the man wanted to prove a point by letting Hux’s command be carried out. Well, that’s likely – Kylo gambling their victory just to spite Hux. However, Hux does, in fact, have more aces up his sleeves. “The canon, Sir.” He suggests, daring now to look into Kylo’s eyes. He’s still seething with rage over seeing the antique freighter. “It uses the same technology as the Death Star and is capable of firing a devastating energy pulse along a targeting tracer beam and can cause a powerful detonation upon impact. We can use it to destroy the gate.”

“Do it.”

“Charge the canon.” Hux commands. The corners of his mouth twitched. It’s foolish to count that as a win but Hux still couldn’t help but grin at Kylo’s approval of his suggestion. He had been waiting to have the canon tested and what better way to do it than destroying the very barrier that separates the First Order from crushing the scum that is the Resistance.

Despite taking damage and taking heavy losses, the Resistance pilots rushed on and their ski speeders continued heading towards Hux and Kylo’s direction – no, specifically towards the canon.

“Will that damn canon charge any slower?” Kylo sneered.

The ski speeders didn’t slow down. They’re – They’re going to try to destroy the canon! Hux would have shrugged and ignored them but he’s learned a lot after Starkiller and that is to not underestimate the Resistance especially since the destruction of his supposed-impregnable and majestic weapon was brought about by puny starfighters. The canon isn’t as durable as Starkiller too...

They’re not going to destroy another one of his brilliant creations.

“All firepower on those speeders.” The Force user ordered and just a few seconds after giving that command, “Concentrate all fire on the speeders!” Hux yelled; rushing to the Force user’s side and the younger man glanced at him, glaring and looking at him with pure and utter distaste but didn’t comment on Hux’s foolish actions and instead, focused his attention on the speeders being blown off by their AT-M6’s.

“The canon is charged, Sirs.”

The pilots seem to realize this too. Most of them had pulled back except two. It’s clear that they intend to ram their speeders against the canon; thus sacrificing their lives to protect their comrades who are hiding in the mines. Noble yet foolish. It seems the Resistance are making a habit of sacrificing their lives in order for their comrades to escape the clutches of the First Order. They’re becoming more and more desperate as more time passes by.

“Fire.” Hux and Kylo said at the same time. Their tone of voice, however, is different from one another, with Kylo quietly muttering the word and Hux, once again, barking that word as if his throat isn’t swollen. He should stop acting like Kylo’s echo. Hux could feel the adrenaline pulsing through his body, watching the red beam forming from the canon. There is no way the ski speeders can reach them without being blasted into smithereens. The fools would die a meaningless death. A cold shiver ran across his spine as the canon blasted towards the gate.  Red, crimson and orange spread across it while the durasteel gate and it splintered like it were made of transparisteel.

“General Hux.”

Hux turns to the origin of the low, husky voice of the Supreme Leader. He can clearly sense that the satisfaction he was feeling at seeing their goal, the very goal they had pursued for so long is finally at hand is mutual. Kylo’s large brown eyes were glued on the scene, not looking at Hux even when he addressed him. Usually Hux hates it whenever Kylo treats him as though he is unworthy to even look at but right now, Hux doesn’t mind it especially when sweet, sweet victory is so close that he can taste it. Hux would have never thought that he would actually act out a command from Kylo with complete and utter pleasure but when Kylo tells them to advance towards the rubble and rubbish that had been the only thing keeping them from their goal, he is consumed with indescribable _glee_.

“No quarter. No prisoners.”

Kylo wants them dead. All of them. This realization made Hux smirk because, like the mutual satisfaction they just shared, he wants the same damn thing. “Very well, Supreme Leader.” Hux replied. The other officers glanced at him with confused gaze when he addressed Kylo as their Supreme Leader; wondering if exhaustion and confusion has finally consumed their general that he has mistaken Kylo with Snoke. Someone even snickered. Peavey, maybe. It took them a few seconds to realize that Hux called Kylo ‘Supreme Leader’ on purpose.

“Forward.” Hux commands; cocking his chin at the view before them, at the embers eating at the rusty, cranky metal. At long last, after years and years of war, of fighting, of grasping about at seemingly nothing...the First Order has the wretched Resistance and this time, they have nothing to slither through like the damn cockroaches they are to escape. Without the Resistance, there would be nothing standing in their way to finally rule the whole galaxy. This moment would be recorded in history and he, General Armitage Hux, will be known as the man who led the assault in this miserable salt planet. His name would reverberate through the time...just as he deserves. After all the things he had to endure to finally get to this moment and for everything he most likely have to endure after, he deserves to be known and remembered by the whole galaxy forever. Hux takes a deep breath; telling himself, reminding himself that _he deserves this_ , letting the words linger and echo inside his head. His illegitimacy, all his pain and his weaknesses will be erased in the minds of people and he will only be known as the fierce General Hux. Weak-willed, thin as a slip of paper Armitage will be gone and his father wherever the fuck he is will –

“Have I ever told you that your thoughts are too loud, General?” Kylo hisses hatefully, turning his attention towards him.

Hux almost jumps with shock in response to Kylo. _Almost._ Blood rushes to his cheeks. Through all the excitement, he completely forgot that Kylo could read his mind. No, Kylo did not intentionally _read_ his mind. Hux must have been broadcasting his thoughts like how a speaker does with his speeches...which means that Kylo heard _all that._ Hux clears his throat, looking away from Kylo and wondering if he has to answer that sarcastic question or if he has to apologize. Fortunately, he hasn’t been thinking of rather treasonous thoughts at the time. But then again, given their animosity for one another and their shared desire for the throne, Kylo would have predicted Hux wanting him dead as soon as he regained consciousness back in the throne room. That’s why he dragged him here, to keep an eye on him. Perhaps, he has to apologize. After all, he needs to be in Kylo’s better side.

Kylo turns away as soon as Hux opened his mouth, dismissing whatever Hux was about to say. He brings his attention to the viewport. He’s ignoring him. Hux clenches his teeth, shutting his mouth, his tongue going completely dry and numb. Of course, Kylo knows how insulted he feels whenever he is treated like an insignificant speck and completely disregarded...great, wonderful...

Hux pushes away the anger beginning to spread across his chest, reminding himself of how close they are to victory. It doesn’t matter if the Supreme Leader is ignoring him. It’s not like he is not used to being ignored.

They get closer and closer towards the gate separating them from the rebels. Hux spots a lone silhouette emerging from the fire, walking out from safety and into the battlefield. Perhaps, it’s another fool who wants to sacrifice himself to delay what is inevitable for his comrades. Hux snickers. It’s an old man. Well, he certainly did not expect that. Hux thought they’ll be sending out their champion, the girl who supposedly murdered Snoke or the damn traitor who used to be one of their own, to face them in one final attempt of rebelling...not this apparently helpless and harmless man with his graying brown light brown hair and wrinkled face. He wonders what the fool would accomplish on his own. He glances at Kylo, meaning to laugh at the old goat but Kylo doesn’t look amused or happy. Kylo’s face is pale and he looks like he’s seen a ghost. His eyes are wide in sheer terror and –

_He’s back. He’s here. And nothing’s changed. He’s still wearing those ugly kriffing Jedi rags. All this years and he still looks like how I remembered him. Strike before he strikes you. Strike. Draw your lightsaber, you fool. He’s sensed what you want, he sensed the Darkness inside you and the choice you already made. He will try to stop you. He will kill you because he has to. Strike before he strikes you._

Hux jolts in shock as Kylo’s voice pierces through his skull and into his brain. The words echoed inside as though it was spoken inside a cave and so, he knows that Kylo isn’t saying it out loud. Kylo is barking out an order Hux could barely hear. His ears are ringing and muffled but disembodied voices filled them. He turns to look at the dark-haired man who is far too distracted, too focused on the man. Whoever he is, he must have played such a significant role in... _wait_ –

It takes a moment for Hux to put two and two together. The man who appeared may be none other than the man Kylo had been looking for: Luke Skywalker.

“I want every gun we have to fire on that man,” Kylo said between clenched teeth.

Pain. Fear. The feeling of loss from a betrayal. Anger. Hatred.

“Supreme Leader...”

Hux is taken aback by these emotions radiating from the Supreme Leader and they hit him like a hot gush of wind, scalding and alarming and painful. His heart is pounding and he isn’t sure if it’s because of Kylo’s preposterous command or if Kylo’s intense emotions are affecting him somehow. Hux stares at Kylo in shock. Kylo is scared, angry and hateful, like a rabid, cornered animal...like young Armitage had been when he was hiding away from an angry Brendol, hiding inside a dark closet and wishing, hoping and almost praying to some sort of divine intervention that his father wouldn’t find him.

“Ren –”

“Do it.”

Kylo has his back towards him, completely oblivious that Hux had mistakenly call him by his...name? Is ‘Ren’ Kylo’s self-given surname or is it his title as a Knight of Ren? Who bloody knows? Hux glances towards the viewport, watching as the command is carried out, watching as their guns spew out one blaster fire and another; shooting a single spot which has now been engulfed with red smoke.

“More.”

They’re wasting ammo, wasting time which are both very valuable.

“More!” Kylo’s voice boomed louder than the sounds of explosions, louder than the sounds of guns recoiling from the force of their shots, louder than the rapid beating of Hux’s heart. _Strike before he strikes you. Strike before he strikes you. Strike before he strikes you._ Those muffled, far-sounding words echoing, echoing inside Hux’s brain is the only sound louder than that of Kylo’s demanding barks. Hux watches Kylo clench his hands into fists; clenching it tighter and tighter at the same time and in complete synchronization with the words bouncing inside Hux, the voice now saying ‘Kill Luke Skywalker’ _._

_Kill Luke Skywalker. Kill. Kill Luke Skywalker. Kill. Killlukeskywalker. Killukeskywalker._

Over and over.

“Supreme Leader, surely –”

“MORE!”

Growing louder and louder.

Hux grits his teeth together, clenching them so hard that his jaw began to ache. He couldn’t take this. Whatever Kylo is doing, whatever reason he has for projecting his thoughts, his emotions towards him must stop or else Hux is positive he will lose his mind. Louder and louder. And all of a sudden, without explanation, nothing but the high-pitched feedback noise similar to the one made by amplified speakers.

“Ren, that’s enough.” Hux said, stepping forward and closer to the Supreme Leader, speaking the words softer than he intended. It sounded too soothing, too soft and _personal_ and _intimate._ Kriff, he hopes no one heard him. Kylo is staring off blankly at the spot where their men were raining their bullets on; his huge hazel eyes glazed over, hazy, devoid of any emotion but animalistic terror like that of a cornered hissing cat with its fur puffed up and its back arched. He’s too far gone. Annoyed and exhausted, Hux marches in front of Kylo, bumping the Supreme Leader’s shoulder in the process. Fortunately, Kylo does not seem to notice. Hux could no longer able to bear the excruciating pounding in his head brought about by the thoughts and emotions Kylo sending his way. He screamed, “That’s enough!”

He isn’t sure if he meant to scream that to his men, or to Kylo, or both. But the men stopped their firing and the feedback noise that invaded Hux’s mind stopped too.

Much to his surprise, Kylo does not disagree with him. Hux could even say that he _listened_ to him. So maybe it isn’t impossible to reason with Kylo Ren, after all...

Possibly losing his balance, Kylo falls down on the chair that is somehow conveniently placed behind him. Hux could hear Kylo panting for breath from behind him. He turns around, “You think you got him?” He spat, sarcastically, glaring daggers at the younger man. Kylo doesn’t answer him, doesn’t look at him. He’s trembling. Humiliated. Hux couldn’t stand looking at him.

“Now, if we're ready to get moving, we can finish this,” Hux hisses as he looks away from the pathetic creature that is with him right now, addressing the men in charge of the control panel. He does not need to ask for anyone to report to him the status of their ammunition. They’ve wasted enough ammo, wasted enough time because Kylo couldn’t keep his silly emotions at bay. Luke Skywalker may be a Jedi master but he isn’t invincible, is he not? One blaster fire would have had him killed and so, he should be vaporized into something hideous and ugly now – if there _is_ anything left after all that.

“Sir?”

Quietly, Kylo stands up; walking to stand by Hux’s side, silent as he studies the wreckage.

Hux feels a cold shiver run down his spine as the red cloud clears out and there _he_ is, just as he had been before, not a scratch or a speck of dust on him despite the fact that he is standing on a huge crater produced by their guns. That’s impossible. Blood rushed to his cheeks, hating how he was proven wrong so quickly. He’s looking at them intently, glaring as he raises his hand towards his shoulder. Hux watched as he brushes his shoulder, apparently taunting them.

Kylo lets out a shaky exhale, “Bring me down to him. Keep the door covered and don't advance until I say.”  

What does Kylo mean to do? Fight the man one-on-one?  _Ridiculous._ “Supreme Leader...” Hux said, keeping his voice low and calm, reminding himself that Kylo can be reasoned with and that it is not impossible to convince Kylo to listen to him. “...don't get distracted, our goal –”

Nothing prepared him from being lifted off of the floor and being slammed painfully against the duracrete wall. He heard a yelp; a cry of a small pup. The lids of his eyes feel so heavy. What is a dog doing here...? His fingers, his toes feel numb, cold. Oh. It wasn’t a dog.

_You wonder why I keep a rabid cur in such a place of power?_

It was him.

_A rabid cur._

How fitting.

Then there’s darkness.

 

* * *

 

_He stood by a cliff; overlooking the vast, wide ocean. The water sparkles as the light from the sun reflects against its surface. Its bluish green color reminds him of someone...but he couldn’t quite remember who it was. He’s thinking of a pair of eyes, eyes of the prettiest color he has seen in his life. But besides that, he was thinking of flying; of riding an X-wing and exploring the galaxy in it. Exploring. Wanting to find someone. Wanting to search the whole galaxy just to see that pair of eyes in person._

_“Ben!”_

That isn’t his name, this isn’t his memories and yet...

_A boy is calling him. He turned around to see a young creature with a smooth dark blue skin, seven ghastly amber orbs as eyes on its angular face running side by side with a little girl with dark hair and big brown eyes. A feeling of endearment filled his chest as he sees the little girl. An endearment that is innocent, pure, sincere and familial. The wind blew the little girl’s hair and she struggled to keep her tiny form from getting carried away by the force of the wind. Fortunately, the blue creature held on to her wrist tightly with his larger-than-that-of-a-human’s hand._

_“Master Luke’s been looking for you.” The creature said as soon as they had approached him. He has a strange accent, his vowels intoned longer like he were drawling each sound of it. Up close, he can finally make out that his thin lips were forming a rather amicable smile. Its eyes blinked simultaneously as the little girl pulled hard at his grip. He lets her go and she rushed towards...Ben._

_“C’mon.”_

Still darkness.

Floating in an abyss of nothingness. Weightless. Emotionless.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

The First Order needs General Hux.

Wake up.

_Green._

_He stumbled clumsily and stupidly before skidding and falling on his belly on the grass-covered ground. He clicked his tongue._

_“I told you – ”_

_He growls, jumping to his feet and lunges towards the older man, grip on the lightsaber’s hilt tight as he aims to stab the light brown-haired man who doesn’t even have his own lightsaber activated. In the nick of time, the man dodges his attack; gracefully turning away from the blue blade. Ben continued to attempt striking him, grunting loudly as he flailed about like a complete idiot and his attacks are easily dodged. The man smiled and when Ben turns to look at him, he brushes at his shoulder as though he’s brushing dust from it. He’s humiliating him in front of the children, in front of his friends for the sake of teaching him a lesson._

_“Patience, Ben. Keep yourself calm. Anger in battle will never help you win.”_

_Ben disagrees and he will show him._

_“I’ll show you.”_

_“Ben.” The man’s eyes widened, “No!”_

_He ignored him, raising his arm and conjuring the Force towards Luke Skywalker and he froze in place._

_“BEN!”_

Hux gasps, the high-pitched shriek of an unknown little girl still echoing in his ears. He’s lying on his belly. His back is aching and his head is throbbing painfully. He looks up, looks around and realizes that Kylo is nowhere to be found. The officers, his men were acting like the General isn’t lying on his belly is nothing but normal.

How long has he been knocked out?

Hux struggles to his feet, ignoring the sharp pain from his back, and demands angrily, “Where’s Ren?!”

The fool could be dragging the First Order to the ground because of his personal interests, his personal obsession against Luke Skywalker. Almost frantically, he turned towards the viewport and found Kylo Ren in the middle of the battleground, standing in front of Skywalker.

“Dammit,” Hux hissed.

He watches as Kylo slowly steps towards the man, his red lightsaber out in front of him as though he was _scared_ or _hesitant_ to stab the man with it. Closer and closer Kylo walked until finally, the tip of his lightsaber touches the man’s body – but no, it didn’t touch the man but instead, it went through him as though he were some sort of ghost. Kylo didn’t move as the man’s body begins to turn translucent as though it was being carried away by the wind like the Luke Skywalker that stood in front of them is nothing but the red salt dust of the planet.

Within seconds, Luke Skywalker is gone and Kylo Ren stood there alone, screaming and thrashing about like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Like a fool, he ran towards the deteriorating gate. It’s so easy to give the command and shoot their guns at him while his back is turned on them, defenseless and unaware. Hux considered it for a moment, however such a thought is fleeting. He couldn’t kill Kylo. Not yet. The Order may still have a use for Kylo Ren.

“Get me down there,” Hux said and when the pilot glances at him, a look of defiance in his eyes, he snaps at him, “I don’t give a damn what Kylo Ren told you. I am the one in this damn shuttle and you answer to me.” He glares at the man, certain that one look sent shivers down his spine and the man followed his order; sending the command shuttle down, landing with finesse near the mines where Kylo stood by, panting and growling like a complete idiot. His eyes darts towards Hux as he steps out of the shuttle, back straight no matter how it hurt and hands behind him.

“Supreme Leader,” Hux greets him, keeping his face impassive.

“Follow my lead and bring your worthless army along with you,” Kylo said.

When they got inside the mines, the place – as Hux had expected – is already empty. They search the whole perimeter and found not even a hair of General Organa’s old head. With all the time wasted because of Kylo, the Resistance was able to escape. Kylo still clung to foolish hope that they could reach even them on time to finish them off. He is the only one to blame for this. They could’ve had the Resistance and yet they managed to escape to live another day to continue acting like a thorn on the sides of the First Order. He watches as Kylo enters a room that looked like an old outpost facility of some sort. Before he can even set foot inside, Kylo gestures for him to wait outside. For a while, Kylo just lingers there, kneeling; perhaps, using some sort of his Force foolishness to do whatever Force banthashit Hux could never understand. Maybe he’s using the Force to slither out of being held responsible for this loss.

Inside the dark facility, Kylo looks so utterly alone, lost. Well, he chose to be alone actually. Meanwhile, on the other side, Hux stands quietly and behind him are the troopers, the lower-ranking officers and their men. Perhaps, this is some sort of omen, a warning to what’s to come. Their newly-appointed Supreme Leader distancing himself from them and them left with little to no guidance. For some reason, these thoughts had Hux excited.

And a little bit _frightened._


End file.
